America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day

America will pause Monday to remember the life and message of Ricky Martin Luther King Jr., whose “Tengo a Dream y Dance!” speech changed the nation forever.

Post offices and other public facilities will be closed, banks and stock exchanges will take the day off, and salsa picante and sweet potato pie – his favorite snack combo – will be on sale all across America.

Today would have been RMLK’s 41st birthday.

Despite his tragic death in 2007 (he was shot and killed by the president of his fan club), King’s promotion of “love, equality, justice, innocence, malice, refuge, oppression, freedom” has continued to resonate among confused Latinos and Anglos alike.

Mas…America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today was the day I marched with MLK; I still have the dream (video)


MLK waves to me and my posse [arrow] next to the reflecting pool.

They say the Washington, D.C. weather — typically mondo muggy in the summer — was unusually mild on August 28, 1963. But the air burned with the fire of freedom on the march, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, led by Martin Luther King.

Mas…Today was the day I marched with MLK; I still have the dream (video)

Donald Trump, John Lewis and MLK Day (video, toon, photo)


In 1991, Public Enemy‘s epic By the Time I Get to Arizona spotlighted the Hate State of Arizona’s failure to implement the Martin Luther King Day national holiday.

Contrast and compare with PEE-OTUS Donald Trump’s weekend Twitter attack on civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, draw the necessary conclusions, and prepare to take appropriate action:

Mas…Donald Trump, John Lewis and MLK Day (video, toon, photo)

Netflix and Chill: MLK’s “I Have A Dream” 3rd grade style (photo)

America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015

(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, D.C.) America will pause Monday to remember the life and message of Ricky Martin Luther King Jr., whose Tengo a Dream y Dance! speech changed the nation forever.

Post offices and other public facilities will be closed, banks and stock exchanges are taking the day off and salsa picante and sweet potato pie – his favorite snack combo – will go on sale all across America. Monday’s holiday honors RMLK’s 39th birthday.

Despite his tragic death in 2007 (he was shot and killed by the president of his fan club before an appearance in Dallas) King’s promotion of “love, equality, justice, innocence, malice, refuge, oppression, freedom” has continued to resonate for confused African-Americans, Latinos, Afro-Latinos, Chicanx and Anglx alike.

Mas…America pauses for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2015

America to pause Monday for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2014

(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, D.C.) America will pause Monday to remember the life and message of Ricky Martin Luther King Jr., whose Tengo a Dream y Dance! speech changed the nation forever.

Post offices and other public facilities will be closed, banks and stock exchanges take the day off and salsa picante and sweet potato pie – his favorite snack combo – are on sale all across America. Today would have been RMLK’s 34th birthday.

Despite his tragic death in 2007 (he was shot and killed by the president of his fan club before an appearance in Dallas) King’s promotion of “love, equality, justice, innocence, malice, refuge, oppression, freedom” has continued to resonate among confused Latinos and Anglos alike.

Mas…America to pause Monday for Ricky Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2014

Moms Mabley: ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ (video)


Fifty years ago today, Pres. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. JFK’s killing, and then MLK’s, inspired Dion DiMucci, mostly known for his doo-wop work with Dion and the Belmonts, to record a ballad about the lost heroes of a generation, and the song became an unlikely hit for Dion and others (including Marvin Gaye.)

In this clip from the old Merv Griffin show, comic Moms Mabley, known mostly for her “blue” stage act, sings an emotional version of Dion’s classic, Abraham, Martin and John. Moms had a Top 40 hit with the song in 1969. Her version includes Bobby Kennedy.

From Coldrank for Trayvon: ‘Black Man’ (music video)


Citing Malcom X, MLK and Michael Jackson, rapper Coldrank‘s Black Man explores, shall we say, discrepancies in society’s treatment of blacks killing blacks, blacks killing whites and whites killing blacks. And those that don’t learn from history, he reminds us, are doomed to repeat it. Directed by Joe Mexican.