25 Matching Annotations
  1. Jun 2024
    1. By prioritiz-ing a full longitudinal approach to Adler’s life, his intellectual cir-cle, and iterations of the great books idea, one can the see humanweaknesses of great books advocates even while acknowledging theirdreams, goals, and motivations.

      the word "dreams" here along with great books and classical education reminds me of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s education on the classics as seen in his zettelkasten.

      Surely his cultural up brining along with his religious training and his great books education empowered him to critically eye and change the culture around him.

  2. Jan 2024
    1. King’s box of notecards makes me think of Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten. Did you come across any hint that King was familiar with Luhmann’s organizing structure? If he was, it’s unfortunate he missed the part about clearly identified reference notes!

      reply to Karen Hume at https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/martin-luther-king-jrs-organizational/comment/47959537

      It is incredibly unlikely that King was aware of Luhmann's organizational structure as their practices were contemporaneous right down to their starting years. Luhmann's ZK1 comprises 7 sections with about 23,000 notes written from about 1952 to 1961 while the Morehouse Collection indicates that concerning King's research notes archive "The bulk of the notes were taken as reference material for King’s coursework while a doctoral student at Boston University (1952-1955), including notes taken specifically as reference material for King’s dissertation..." I've been actively searching for several years now, and have yet to find anyone following Luhmann's structure until after the Marbach Exhibition "Zettelkästen. Machines of Fantasy" in 2013. Broadly most have historically followed a variation of a subject heading organization, with or without indexing, similar to that found in the commonplace book tradition and described in Johannes Erich Heyde's book Technik des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitens; eine Anleitung, besonders für Studierende (multiple editions including 1931 & 1951), which was a work Luhmann read when devising his own system.

      Incidentally it looks like MLK was using Weis No. 35 boxes, a version of which is still available, now from Globe-Weis: https://amzn.to/3vVcO3c. Perhaps some enterprising teachers will help students create their own versions now?

    1. Arrangement of the Series The series is organized into eight subseries: 1. General Subject file; 2. Theologian's Debate Box; 3. Subject Index file; 4. Author Index file; 5. Title Index file; 6. Notes on Books of the Bible; 7. Notes on the Latter Prophets; 8. Notes on Philosophers. The series is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 6 and 7 arranged in order of occurrence in the Bible. Separated Materials Newsprint items have been separated to proper housing.
    2. The series consists primarily of notes taken by Martin Luther King, Jr. The bulk of the notes were taken as reference material for King’s coursework while a doctoral student at Boston University (1952-1955), including notes taken specifically as reference material for King’s dissertation; these notes focus specifically on theology and theologians. Later notes relate to books and articles read by King on a wide variety of subjects (1943-1968), as well as publications that mention or publish work by King, his wife, his associates, or organizations related to King (1968-1969).

      Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection: Series 4: Research Notes Collection Identifier: 0000-0000-0000-0131i

      https://findingaids.auctr.edu/repositories/2/resources/159

    1. Dr. Vicki Crawford, Endowed Chair and Director of the Morehouse Martin Luther King Jr. Collection and Professor of Africana Studies(470) 639-0569kingcollection@morehouse.edu.Mailing AddressMorehouse CollegeMartin Luther King Jr. CollectionLeadership Center830 Westview Drive S.W.Atlanta, Georgia 30314
    1. Hess, Jillian. “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Organizational Systems.” Substack newsletter. Noted (blog), January 22, 2024. https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/martin-luther-king-jrs-organizational.

    2. From an organizational standpoint, the beauty of sermons is that each revolves around a specific theme. Accordingly, King could devote a single folder to each topic. He accumulated 166 folders, each with a title like “Loving your Enemies” (folder 1), “Why the Christian must Oppose Segregation” (folder 87), “Mental Slavery” (folder 113), and “The Misuse of Prayer” (folder 166). These folders contain King’s outlines; source material, like clippings from books; and drafts.

      In addition to his card index, Martin Luther King, Jr. compiled a collection of 166 folders organized around various topics which he used to organize outlines, clippings, pages from books, and other source materials as well as drafts of sermons or speeches on those topics.

      To some extent these folders are just larger format repositories mirroring the topical arrangements of his card index.

    3. My guess is that it was unintentional and the result of sloppy note-taking practices that did not clearly mark original and borrowed ideas.

      Jillian Hess' guess for the origin of King's plagiarism.

      It's also possible that he came from a much more oral facing cultural upbringing rather than a dyed-in-the-wool academic one which focused on attribution.

    4. And here are King’s early thoughts on this biblical passage, written in 1953 as a Ph.D. student:God (Amos)5:21:24—This passage might be called the key passage of the entire book. It reveals the deep ethical nature of God. God is a God that demands justice rather than sacrifice; righteousness rather than ritual. The most elaborate worship is but an insult to God when offered by those who have no mind to conform to his ethical demands. Certainly this is one of the most noble idea ever uttered by the human mind.One may raise the question as to whether Amos was against all ritual and sacrifice, i.e. worship. I think not. It seems to me that Amos' concern is the ever-present tendency to make ritual and sacrifice a substitute for ethical living. Unless a man's heart is right, Amos seems to be saying, the external forms of worship mean nothing. God is a God that demands justice and sacrifice fo can never be a substitute for it. Who can disagree with such a notion?3Notice how King wrote the topic (God) and his source (Amos 5:21:24) at the top of the note card for easy reference.

      example of a note from King's zettelkasten

    5. one of King’s note cards on the Old Testament’s Book of Amos which includes the linesBut let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. These lines would feature in many of King’s speeches—including his famous “I Have a Dream Speech,” where King said: …we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

      Some of King's note cards later figured in his speeches including his "I Have a Dream" speech.

    6. Many of King’s notecards come from his time earning a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Boston University. These notecards contain a mixture of quotations from the Bible and religious thinkers as well as King’s personal views. For example, he wrote more than a thousand notecards exploring the Old Testament.

      Martin Luther King, Jr. maintained a card index during his Ph.D. studies while he was at Boston University working in the area of systematic theology.

      He created over a thousand notecards with respect to the Old Testament, many containing a mixture of biblical quotations as well as his own thoughts.

    7. A selection of King’s notecards, held at Morehouse College

    1. you quote Dr. King in the book where he also said, you don't need to know the pit, the layout of the entire staircase to take the first step.
      • for: quote - Martin Luther King Jr., quote - first steps

      • quote: Martin Luther King Jr.

        • You don't need to know the layout of the entire staircase to take the first step
    2. he said to Harry Belafonte, he said, you know, I think we're going to win the battle of integration. He, I think that we will get that. But he said, but I worry that I'm integrating my people into a burning house. 00:17:26 And I think that's a perfect metaphor. I mean, you're trying to get people of color to have jobs or to own houses, but meanwhile, it's hard for anyone to own a house now with interest rates going up and prices so high. Jobs themselves are being destroyed. And so it's not enough to integrate into the economy as it is. We need to transform that economy.
      • for: quote - Martin Luther King Jr., quote racial integration alone is not enough

      • quote: Martin Luther King Jr.

        • I think we are going to win the battle of integration but i worry I'm integrating my people into a burning house
      • comment

        • It's not good enough to share in the same privileges as whites because the way that wealth supremacy works, ALL peopple suffere equally.
  3. Oct 2022
    1. The FBI declined several requests to comment for this article.  Among the documents obtained by Rolling Stone —some of which are newly declassified— is a 1968 document discussing funeral plans for Martin Luther King Jr., calling it a “racial situation.” It further notes “Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin…of this group, some have supported militant Black power concept…[performance at MLK memorial by these prominent entertainers] would provide emotional spark which could ignite racial disturbance in this area.” The agency also tried and failed to connect Franklin to the Black Liberation Army and other so-called “radical” movements. In one case, the FBI detailed her 1971 contract with Atlantic Records “just in case” agents could link Franklin’s business dealings to the Black Panther Party.  Another document titled “Possible Racial Violence” describes an incident in August 1968 when Franklin canceled a show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver, Colorado. According to local news reports at the time, fans engaged in a “20-minute melee” and  “broke chairs and music stands, damaged a grand piano, and even set fire to trees, bushes and trash piles.”
  4. Feb 2022
    1. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1494322378142359554.html

      from https://twitter.com/NeilLewisJr/status/1494322378142359554

      Context:

      Some news: yesterday I learned that, by faculty vote, my bid for tenure/promotion was not approved.<br><br>I feel many things, but not shame or regret. I am so proud of our work during our time at yale, and angry that this version of that work will come to an end, this end.

      — Michael W. Kraus (@mwkraus) February 16, 2022
      <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
  5. Dec 2021
  6. Jul 2021
  7. Mar 2020
    1. "First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." - Martin Luther King Jr.

      http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/060.html

    2. Wipe that smug ass look off your face, Hilary Rosen. This WiPiPo crap has got to stop.

  8. Dec 2018
    1. Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the eco- nomic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them, is a spiritually moribund religion in need of new b100d
  9. Jul 2015
    1. My understanding of the universe was physical, and its moral arc bent toward chaos then concluded in a box.

      This, of course, is flipping Martin Luther King's famous quote about "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." It's upsetting to think that Coates is saying that the reality is that the arc bends toward death, not justice.

      See:

      http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/15/arc-of-universe/

      and

      http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129609461