Martin Luther King Jr.

Here's John McCain talking to the press on his campaign plane about why he voted against a national holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.  read more »

After studying the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, linguist Mark Liberman found that their speaking styles are “radically different.”

Then there’s Barack Obama.  read more »

Here’s Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr., a Democrat from the Bronx, at the Nation Action Network headquarters in Harlem today:

“See, the Latinos try to front a little bit here. They say, ‘Well, Dr. King is not about us. He’s about the African American community.'" But, he said, "This Latino right here is serving up in Albany because of Dr. King.”

In a speech today at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.served as pastor, Barack Obama talked about the existence of institutional racism, the sensationalizing of race "by the media" and the creeping of race as an issue into the presidential campaign.

But Obama's speech will likely be remembered for his calling on the black community to do its part to fight homophobia, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.  read more »

Saturday

11 a.m. The city Office of New Schools holds new high school information fair at Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Campus (122 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan). 12:30 p.m. Starrett City residents and advocates call on officials to block housing units from going to market rate apartments (City Christian Cultural Center, 12020 Flatlands Ave.)

1 p.m. Advocates ask Eliot Spitzer to change policy on access to driver license policy (101 Sixth Ave, 22nd Flr.).

2 p.m. Long Island state Senators discuss the impact of Spitzer's proposed budget on Long Island property taxpayers (62 Fairfield Ave., Mineola).

Volunteers for Democrat Craig Johnson are car-pooling from Astoria and Bayside

And Christine Quinn is joined by 11 other council members on a trip to Israel.

Sunday

11 a.m. The city's Office of New Schools holds new high school information fair at Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Campus (122 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan).

11 a.m. NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson will appear on "Eyewitness News Up Close" with host Diana Williams [added].

Nassau Young Republicans campaign for Maureen O'Connell

Monday 7:15 a.m Spitzer campaigns with Craig Johnson at the LIRR station in Great Neck

1:00 p.m. Spitzer and education advocates make an announcement in the Blue Room at the state Capitol

7 p.m. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein attends meeting at PS 268 (133 East 53rd Street, BK)

-- Azi Paybarah

There are certain pivotal plays that make mighty noises in small rooms, and Dutchman, by the black a  read more »

Mike Bloomberg, jokingly I think, just told the audience at the National Action Network's Martin Luther King Day event that his personal choice for president in 2008, standing on stage with him right now, is Charlie Rangel.

Bloomberg also said that he's been known to change his mind.

-- Azi Paybarah

Our culture of publicity makes it difficult to talk in negative terms about a new book without sound  read more »

It made for fairly gripping stuff last night when Michael Myers and Al Vann took on the issue of race in the 11th district election.

Myers accused Vann of "racial hustling" for calling on David Yassky, the only white candidate in the field, to withdraw.

I'm telling you that the Voting Rights Act was designed to eliminate racial barriers in terms of voting and elections, not to add to them. And I say to your viewers it is an Orwellian double talk to use the Voting Rights Act, to use the name of Martin Luther King, Jr. to say that Yassky shouldn't win this office simply because of his skin color.

Vann responded that we are not yet at the day where a decision in this race can be based soley on qualifications.

We all look forward to the day that we can walk hand in hand, black and white, you know, free at last, free at last, but we are not at that day yet. Until we can bring about equality for all people in this city, empowerment is a critical issue.

Of course you bring your qualifications to the table and the best person wins. However, there is a history to that district, and other Voting Rights districts, that is different--it's exceptional.

Whose interpretation is right?

—Nicole Brydson

A few weeks ago, when the nation celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.  read more »

People long in the public spotlight have a double life.  read more »

People long in the public spotlight have a double life.  read more »

I should have known I wouldn't be able resist a short post on the Harlem political festivities today, first at a freezing 1199 rally, and then at the cozy Canaan Baptist Church, where Al Sharpton holds court.

Hillary, speaking at Canaan (and keeping a good distance between herself and fellow guest Harry Belafonte) seemed to get a bit carried away by the day's rhetoric, veering after a strong but safe passage abouit New Orleans, into a charged simile:

"When you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation," she said. "And you know what I'm talking about."

The audience loved it, as did the press corps clustered in back.

Also uptown today, Spitzer and Suozzi jostled a bit, with Suozzi wowing the 1199 crowd by leading the rally in song and then performing an open-air signing of a living-wage bill, as Eliot found himself forced into the background. Later, Suozzi took a beating from Acorn's Bertha Lewis on the issue of housing, while Eliot ducked the question of clemency for jailed Black Panthers.

He was followed by Harry Belafonte who -- as Sharpton noted, and for all the Caracas controversy -- backed Martin Luther King before it was a bipartisan necessity.  read more »

Another weekend, another irrelevant Michael Jackson post. The last, I promise.

But if you enjoyed The Politicker's link to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's frolics among the Jackson fans, which we posted last week, you should check out the animated intro to Jackson's official fan site, MJJSource. A true, multi-media classic of contemporary lunacy, it includes a recital of some of history's memorable dates: Martin Luther King's birthday, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela's liberation, and, of course, the acquittal of Michael Jackson.  read more »

The video should cheer up even the 19 Council Members who will spend the weekend explaining to constituents why Gifford Miller poisoned the water at the local day-care center and firebombed the neighborhood animal shelter.

We'll be back at full strength, and god-willing with new software, July 5. Have a nice, long weekend.

1968: The Year That Rocked the World , by Mark Kurlansky. Ballantine Books, 464 pages, $26.95.  read more »

Tim Story's Barbershop , from a screenplay by Mark Brown, Don D.  read more »

Is there anything left to say about Martin Luther King Jr.?  read more »

I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. , by Michael Eric Dyson.  read more »

The problem at the Brooklyn Museum of Art can be boiled downquite simply: Clear-headed people recogn  read more »

In and around the 10021 ZIP code, Martin Luther King Jr.  read more »

Those of us who haven't been following President Bill Clinton's national conversation on race may tu  read more »