Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with MLK

The County Formerly Known As...

Tube — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:06:42 -0800

Is there a word or term that expresses the following concept more accurately than "rename"? In 1987, when I moved to Seattle, King County was named after William R. King.

Then, according to Wikipedia;

On February 24, 1986, the King County Council passed Council Motion 6461, "setting forth the historical basis for the 'renaming' of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.". Because only the state can charter counties, this change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5332 into law.

Note that Wikipedia uses the term "renaming" to refer to this process. As you see it's in quotation marks, which leads me to believe that the author of the entry was unsure of what to call this transformation.

Looking to the OED entry for "rename" we find;

trans. To name again; esp. to give another or new name to.

But what's going on with King County is that the name is the same, but that to which it refers is changed.

So my question is this: Is there a word or term for this unique linguistic "meaning reassignment"?

I recognize that specificity of definition, especially in the sciences, evolves over time, but the case of King County seems more uniquely clear-cut.

Winter Long Weekend Getaway Ideas

cucumberfresh — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:18:46 -0800

MLK long weekend trip ideas leaving from San Francisco? My boyfriend and I have Jan. 16-20 off and we are having a difficult time deciding where to go. We are in the SF Bay Area and since we have four days off, we'd like to go somewhere that would be difficult to visit during a normal weekend. We are in our mid-20s and are looking to spend no more than $1000. Tahoe and Vegas are both out because we've been recently. Some ideas we have tossed about include a road trip along Hwy 1, a road trip to Disneyland, and Yosemite. Is Disneyland particularly crowded during MLK weekend? Would weather be an issue regarding Hwy 1 or Yosemite? What might be some nice places to check out this time of year? Thanks in advance!

Looking for "at the time" criticism of famous, historically important speeches.

csimpkins — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:47:13 -0800

Can anyone point me towards particularly noteworthy "at the time" criticism of some of the United States' historically important speeches? Particularly criticism of JFK's Inaugural Address and Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speeches. Though any others that might be interesting are also welcome.

There's a ton of essays and papers written years later, after the fact, and they seem to be mucking up my search results. I'm interested in reading emotionally negative responses to these types of speeches that were leveled "at the time" (or immediately after)... before the historical significance had a chance to be fully realized.

Whether the criticism was accurate or just isn't important. I'm just curious to see what the detractors were saying.

Yes, this is prompted by Obama's speech the other night. And no, this isn't an attempt to start a flame war or make a statement. The partisan reaction to his speech got me thinking about history and I'm genuinely curious.

Keep on dancing!

umbú — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:27:21 -0800

What are some examples of "the show going on" under the threat of a riot? I am riveted by footage of the Rolling Stones performing at Altamont, pretending to enjoy themselves on stage so that utter pandemonium doesn't break loose, and James Brown performing in Boston in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King.

What are some other examples of musicians (or other performers) going on with their performances in the face of volatile and unfolding circumstances?

Can anyone help identify this MLK speech?

caroljean63 — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:13:39 -0800

Can someone help identify this MLK speech? It's posted on You Tube and Dr. King is saying, "We sent negroes in large numbers to real estate offices in Gage Park and every time negoes went in they said, “Oh I’m sorry, I don’t have anything listed.”

It's at about the 5:00 mark on the video.

MLK in SA?

deep_sea_diving_suit — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:41:32 -0800

Why does San Antonio, Texas host the largest Martin Luther King, Jr. march? San Antonio doesn't exactly have the largest black population. Of course the MLK march "serves" to show support for all races, but it just seems odd that it's so large in San Antonio (100,000+ people).

I have a dream to find good children's lit.

Mayor Curley — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:07:13 -0800

What are the best childrens' books about Dr. King? Ages 4-14 or so.

MLK Video

NotMyselfRightNow — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:54:13 -0800

Looking for an online video of MLK's giving the "I Have a Dream" speech. I'm organizing a lunch at my company on Monday to show the "I Have a Dream" speech and talk about how King has influenced our lives. I have this video to show. It would work, but if I could get something of better quality or larger image or a stand alone video clip, it would be fantastic.

Can anyone point me to something better?

Where to find Martin Luther King information and speeches?

Caviar — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 07:20:02 -0800

ihaveadream.com is a sleazy search engine. mlk.com seems to be a German concert hall conglomerate. martinlutherking.com redirects to "clubpink.com" (er, I assume NSFW). thekingcenter.com cannot be found. Ah.... here it is. No, wait, that's all about his kinky sex parties and plagiarism.

Where's all the good stuff?