Invited to give the keynote on "Social Justice" at the annual Martin Luther King Day event she spoke about the two Kings. The mythical man created after his death by the State and Madison Avenue and the real human being who, as an activist leader challenged the centers of Militarism, Racism and Capitalism that he identified as the roots of oppression and injustice; and was then vilified by his Government whom she reminds us, likely had a hand in his murder. She demystifies Martin Luther King and explains the importance of his being understood as a regular, even flawed human being, who when called by the circumstances to fight against injustice did so.
Lively talk about her own fight with Chicago's Mayor and the State's Governor both of whom represent the 1% who are desperate to destroy Public Education and the radical teachers union that the CTU has become under the leadership of CORE (the Caucus of Rank and File Educators) and Karen Lewis, in order to push forward their neoliberal program of leeching off public resources in a time of falling profits.
Karen Lewis is featured in the recent book on Twenty-First-Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World, "When We Fight We Win" by Greg Jobin-Leeds and AgitArte.
Chicago public school teachers and parents have shown solidarity and a willingness to take to the streets when necessary to interrupt the only thing that the 1% care about -Capital flows- in order to defend the needs of the students and the dignity of the teachers who educate them.
NEIU Black Students Association
Karen Lewis was fighting a cold. On occasion you can hear that in her voice as she spoke. When asked during the Q&A about movement building there is a silence as she stepped away from the podium and mimed linking arms with an imagined person to each side of her while stepping forward.
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