In Case You Missed it, The (Martin Luther) King Center has Gotten into Bed with JPMorgan Chase

I drew a Ballpoint Adventures comic early last week about this (here: thepete.com/2012/02/13/ballpoint-adventures-for-february-... ), but I thought it was worth mentioning again. Seems that in order to get all of King's speeches and notes digitized and available online, the King Center accepted funds and help from JPMorgan Chase, a giant megabank--one of the most powerful in the world. Does anyone really think Dr. King would be OK with this considering one of his final speeches speaks of the gross inequality in the America Dr. King last lived in? Here's a quote from a speech King gave in 1967 (source: www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/628.html ):

...And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society...

Yeah, I'm sure megabanks that targeted black families for subprime loans that helped ruin the economy would be the perfect place to find support for getting Dr. King's stuff online!

I think not. I also think that the people who run the King Center should have asked for grass-roots help rather than big-money help. It's important that Dr. King's work be preserved for history, but at the expense of his principles? Come on. I think there would have been plenty of volunteers across the Internet who would have been happy to work for free in exchange for a chance to help this great cause.

Instead, a bank did it. And now that bank is bragging about it and bragging about how they believe in Dr. King's message while simultaneously attempting to foreclose on a civil rights activist's house (source: articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-07/wall_street/31032... ). Luckily, they changed their mind after 80,000 people signed a petition (source: thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/14/425255/helen-bailey-... ). But they wouldn't have changed their mind without a bunch of people doing something about it.

And the hypocrisy continues...

Ballpoint Adventures for February 13, 2012: JPMorgan and Martin Luther King Sitting in a Tree

I SERIOUSLY doubt that MLK Jr would have been cool with JPMorgan supporting his cause.  Banks are largely to blame for our current economic state and I just don't think Dr. King would look kindly on the way banks have behaved on the last ten years or more.

Check out how supportive the banking giant JPMorgan Chase is of King's cause: http://www.jpmorganchase.com/Corportate-Responsibility/mlk-event.htm

Why are there 40 million poor people in America? When you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy.

Why are there 40 million poor people in America? When you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy.

- Martin Luther King Jr

(via thecollectedworksof)

(via underpaidgenius)

Martin Luther King Jr. was much more than just a civil rights leader.