Really appreciated this excerpt from your comments Ben. The transformation of King from prophetic and dangerous religious voice to safe and socially acceptable icon, as you point out, has something to do with the way we have narrowed his vision and legacy purely to questions of racial justice. But racism, King insisted, was only one part of a triple and interlinked evil corroding the heart and soul of America--racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. Those want to hear the radical prophetic voice of King as it speaks to us today should listen above all to his speeches against the Vietnam war. What does a modern day prophet sound like (and what should a modern day prophetic movement sound like)? I can think of no better example than this:

If this sermon were ever to be presented before Congress I hope the entirety present would walk out in protest of the lies and animosity spewing from this man's lips. While it may be red meat to those of the far left, the rest of America and the church actually is thankful for the freedoms it has. Freedoms that leaders such as Dr. King and the "militant" Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln fought for.

Both Baker and Ron attacked "militarism". I argue that it is partly that very same "militarism" that gave us our freedoms, and I pointed out some of the figures who "fought" for those freedoms. While Dr. King never took up arms, he nevertheless praised those who directed others to such as Jefferson and Lincoln.