Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a national hero but remains underappreciated. Beyond his civil rights legacy, he warned us about the climate crisis, while his voice prompted state suppression long before most Americans grew to fear fascism. #ReclaimMLK Thread. /1 
We pride ourselves on First Amendment freedoms, but King was mercilessly & relentlessly vilified by the FBI. A Senate investigation uncovered a documented plot to drive him to an early grave.
It was part of a long pattern of suppressing civil rights. eff.org/deeplinks/2014… /2
It was part of a long pattern of suppressing civil rights. eff.org/deeplinks/2014… /2
The surveillance state has metastasized in the decades since King left us. State omniscience, through the combination of electronic monitoring and its expansion through local policing, threatens dissidents today no less than during King’s era. theintercept.com/2017/05/27/lea… /3
The lesson we should learn from the experience that Dr. King endured is that state surveillance undermines not only privacy, but also dissent—and through it, our democracy, plus all the values we cherish. /4
Beyond what we should have learned from his experience, Dr. King also predicted the most pressing global challenges that we confront today.
He named the precursors to climate chaos long before most understood, or even acknowledged, the problem. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi… /5
He named the precursors to climate chaos long before most understood, or even acknowledged, the problem. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi… /5
MLK was not only concerned about racism. He specifically named capitalism, as well as militarism—and importantly, their intersections.
That recipe (racism, militarism, and capitalism) laid the foundation for our mounting global climate crisis. /6
That recipe (racism, militarism, and capitalism) laid the foundation for our mounting global climate crisis. /6
Like any prophet, King’s words hold relevance long beyond his own time. The intersecting evils that he described (racism, militarism, capitalism) have grown since he was taken from us.
Today, they threaten the very future of humanity and life on Earth. /7
Today, they threaten the very future of humanity and life on Earth. /7
We can’t pretend that his work was finished, or that his legacy is simply an object of historical commemoration. The issues with which MLK struggled—those that motivated him, and those that emerged to impede his progress—remain crucial today. We ignore his legacy at our peril. /8
