The Second Assassination of Martin Luther King: Whitewashing a Legacy of Dissent

For MLK Day + Trump inauguration, here is the first essay I ever put online—published 11 years ago.

Hello! First off, I want to thank you for supporting the newsletter with your subscription. It has meant more than I can express and has been helpful as I get The Tech Bubble up and running. My first few paywalled posts will be sporadic until later this year, but hearing Trump invoke MLK’s name reminded me of the very first essay I wrote online when I was 18 over at Genius (formerly known as Rap Genius, RIP): a screed about the whitewashing of MLK’s radical dissent.

I doubt there will ever be a day where King’s work is not relevant—the empire he died organizing against still reigns supreme over the world. I wrote this essay so long ago I feel less embarrassment than surprise, in fact I feel a little amusement because I recognize some of the rhetorical flourishes and writing tics that’ve stuck with me to this day.