Forum Post: MLK's The Other America Speech

Martin Luther King's Speech, The Other America Stanford University April 14, 1967 A Film by Allen Willis Allen Willis has the distinction of being the dean of African American filmmakers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Those who know the rich history of the area's independent filmmaking community acknowledge him as the founding father. He worked for the San Francisco public broadcasting station KQED-TV from 1963 to 1983 and was the first African American news and documentary cinematographers in the Bay Area. The Other America Speech is available in VHS and DVD formats at $19.95 each, and can be purchased directly by calling 510.843.3699.
http://www.eastbaymediacenter.com/allen%20willis%20archives.shtml The online video of this speech can be found at: http://auroraforum.stanford.edu/event/martin-luther-king-and-economic-justice#related_event_information The transcript of this speech can be found at: Aurora_Forum_Transcript_Martin_Luther_King_The_Other_America_Speech_at_Stanford_04.15.07.pdf

My introduction to King’s, The Other America, for the San Francisco BayView: http://www.sfbayview.com/2010/the-other-america/

 "The Jan. 15 birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated this year as America's only ‘Black holiday' Monday, Jan. 19. On this day, the ruling class and their mass media always feature his 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech, as if he never evolved beyond that point.  

"During his lifetime, as a leader of the civil rights movement, King was constantly hounded by the government with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. Since his death, an effort has been made to convert him into a harmless icon - to canonize him.

"Below is one of his last speeches, given over 40 years ago and one year before his assassination, at Stanford University in April 1967 and titled the 'The Other America.' Here he speaks not of a dream but of the nightmarish economic condition of Black people. When he talks about 'work-starved men searching for jobs that do not exist' and living on a 'lonely island of poverty surrounded by an ocean of material prosperity,' the speech remains timely in today's world.” 

Roland Sheppard