This felt appropriate today:

[chknltl]

Dr. King's Dream:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!



(i still believe in that dream, yes WE can.)

[daligirl519]

1. Sorry, baby . . .

We have taken that proverbial "one step back." Take some time to read some post about the Trayvon Martin tragedy.

[chknltl]

2. Have we?

Have we really stepped back? I won't/can't argue the point. Like some here, I want to believe that what we see in the media is not an accurate reflection of the average American citizen. Yes, I have been monitoring the events in Florida. I'll even add to your point with this item I also posted:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002551171

...and yet I still in my heart refuse to believe that THIS is a true reflection of my fellow American.

I reflect on a discussion I once had with an ultra conservative friend of mine. I asked him if he ever wondered if all of Nazi Germany was truly only populated by hardcore fascist nutbags. If so, then what turned all those people that way and why did they revert back to sanity after the war. He actually had no answer....nor do I. Neither of us believed that the entire German population went off the deep end-that many if not most of them were stuck going along into that nightmare because they had little choice.

History shows us that a society can go from sanity to insanity and back again to sanity....do we really need the horror of war in this country before this insanity goes away? We have been down that road, I refuse to believe another civil war is necessary!

Sorry for the ramble, when I posted Dr. King's Dream, the news had just came down that Zimmerman was going to get his day in court and that day would be under the close scrutiny of the American people. My hope is that this becomes a teaching lesson for the citizenry, that we learn that racism is still a huge ongoing nightmare throughout much of our land. We do have an election coming up, it would be nice if Treyvon's death could have a positive influence on that election.

I posted Dr. King's speech because he laid out what was, what is and painted a portrait of what could be. He advocated for a way to achieve this dream that did not require hate or violence. Dr. King may not be here but his words are. It is my desire to see his words filter through those who have fear in their hearts as we witness the trial of Zimmerman....this trial could be much more than only about his fears and his hate and what he did. I believe that it is and should be about America's future.

[Selatius]

3. Jim Crow is dead, but economic segregation lives on in America.

The black community, more than any other group of people, has been hardest hit by this plague of out-sourcing and the fraudulent securities peddled by Wall Street that crashed the economy. People are still living in ghettos that have long went past the point of being fit for human habitation, and people can't even put food on the table or make rent. Even now, more black males are rotting away in prison as a percentage of their peer group than any other group in the nation, and blacks boast the highest percentage of their peers living in poverty than any other racial or ethnic group in America today. When you're facing the choice between moving drugs on the street for 50,000 or 60,000/year or flipping burgers at McDonald's for 8.00/hr, something is seriously fucked up, and you realize that there aren't enough opportunities to lift people out of poverty and into a better life.

And you know what? The people on Wall Street, the same people who buy our politicians and write the laws, don't give a damn. They make a profit off human misery.

At least in the 1960s, people had hope for something better. Today, it's easy to say there's no hope. It's easy to say there are no dreams. It's easy to say that because we're almost at that point as a nation. There is no greater loss to all than watching a nation not live up to its full potential, a nation that has so much unfulfilled potential and never bothered to tap into it.

This is not what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and all his followers took all those ass whippings for in the 1960s.

[chknltl]

4. It is pretty bleak indeed.

Horrible as it is, racism isn't even the worst problem facing our society. The bigger issue may be that We The People no longer can control our own destiny through elections. I would argue that an out of control SCOTUS blocks We The People from turning things around with elections. (What good can be had by replacing the bums in congress with true representatives of the People when the SCOTUS can overrule their legislation signed into law by the POTUS?). So what is the answer there? I got nothin.....

That said,
Jefferson said that democracy requires an enlightened electorate.
Imo, we got to this sorry state because the electorate was less than enlightened, (self included-still am for that matter). In my heart I feel that the average citizen is just as appalled as I am when confronted with images of racism. I believe there can come a tipping point when enough of the electorate becomes exposed that we will seek out change. I think it is up to us to push for that change by spreading the word, by shining a light where we can on the monumental size of this ugliness.

Sorry my old B.A. in cultural anthropology takes my imagination little further but I have not given up on the American People yet.
I believe that with the right leadership, we may yet find our way out of this mess, I still hold out hope that Barrack Obama is that leader.

In the meanwhile, our nation seems to be focused on a murder in Florida. It can't hurt for us to shine a bit of light on the racism and all the rest of the ugly that allowed for this to happen. I think Dr. King would approve, the history lessen and the motivation in his speech can't hurt either.