While media narratives focus on spectacle and political theater, the quiet suffering of families like the Stingleys and Porters reveals the enduring reality of Dr. King’s “Other America.”
As war is being waged in the streets of Minnesota, where ICE agents are pitted against the citizens, fighting for the rights of documented and undocumented immigrants; as culture wars continue to be the focal point of both mainstream and independent media, we lose sight of the everyday battles that continue to plague the forgotten, who receive less attention because of the lack of profit from their sensationalization.
Today, as we remember the contributions of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we also recognize the voice of the unheard and the “other America” in which minority people are forced to inhabit. Those men, women, and children who have been fighting for their share of the American Dream that has yet to be realized in this “other America.” Craig and Alicia Stingley can now find some semblance of solace after a 13-year battle for restorative justice from the death of their son Corey Stingley, whose death by the hands of vigilantes caused emotional damage to the family and the community in which they lived. This occurred in the same year that Trayvon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman in Florida during a time of heightened attention on the mistreatment and senseless murdering of unarmed Black men and boys.
“To use a philosophical analogy here, racism is not based on some empirical generalization; it is based rather on an ontological affirmation. It is not the assertion that certain people are behind culturally or otherwise because of environmental conditions. It is the affirmation that the very being of a people is inferior. And this is the great tragedy of it.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Ricardo Levins Morales
As the culture wars continue to find space in the public square to be debated, there are silent battles being fought for the American Dream with little recognition from mainstream media. After 13 years of fighting, the family sought “not vengeance but acknowledgment of Corey’s life.” Yet his murder received very little national attention.The same can be said about Keith Porter, a 43- year old father who, on New Year’s Eve was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles, California. The investigation of the murder of Porter is still ongoing but has received very little attention compared to that of Renee Good, who was killed by ICE agents during a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 7, 2026, just a few days after the death of Keith Porter.
The deaths of Corey Stingley and Keith Porter are not only heartbreaking, they are also tragic. The fact that their stories have not received the media attention and social justice they deserve adds insult to injury. The moral indecencies that have led to the murders of Black men and boys may not hold as much importance in the public eye as that of Renee Good but their lives matter and so too should we acknowledge their deaths and anticipate that justice will come to those who killed them; and have forced their loved ones to suffer the pain of losing them.
“Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up in the destiny of America. Before the pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth we were here. Before Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. Before the beautiful words of the Star Spangled Banner were written, we were here. For more than two centuries, our forebearers labored here without wages. They made cotton king. They built the homes of their masters in the midst of the most humiliating and oppressive conditions. And yet out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to grow and develop.”- Martin Luther King Jr.
In the memory of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we acknowledge his life and the principles that he brought to the fore of the American psyche; to hold a mirror up to society. On this day we also remember the lives of Corey Stingley, Trayvon Martin, Keith Porter, and Renee Good, all of which exposes the truth of the Other America that Dr. King spoke about and that we are endeavoring to speak out against and overcome. To remember them is not enough. Justice requires attention, accountability, and the refusal to let silence bury the truth.
Two Men Plead Guilty to Felony Murder of Corey Stingley https://www.propublica.org/article/corey-stingley-felony-murder-plea-deal-milwaukee
https://www.crmvet.org/docs/otheram.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/20/trayvon-martin-death-story-so-far
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