Aug 282015
Martin Luther King, Jr. influenced my political thinking more than any other individual. I was fortunate to have worked under him on Vietnam Summer and to have been present on the Washington Mall fifty-two years ago today on August 28, 1963. It’s hard to believe that we are once again fighting the battle to preserve the voting rights won as a result of his dream, and to restore them, where racist Republicans are outlawing the right to vote. After his speech, I need say nothing more.
12 Responses to “The Dream Still Lingers”
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His speech is indeed worth revisiting again and again, especially on this anniversay occasion. And he said his dream extended into economic justice, too–a battle we've been losing almost ever since and need to make central to policies and national elections again.
We've been losing on every front ever since. G.K. Chesterton – we should have listened to him about taking things for granted. If you put out, say, a white picket fence, it is not going to stay white unless you keep faithfully repainting it. Otherwise it will just be weathered wood. We did n;t keep repainting and repainting, and now look what we have lost. (Incidentally something wlse he said which I was recently reminded of was how strange it is when people think the poor want anarchy, since "the poor have at times objected to being governed badly. The rich have always objected to being governed at all." Libertarian much?)
How the politicians can try to undo what was done so long ago is beyond ridiculous! The new politician aren't old enough to remember the turbulent '60s and '70s! I remember them WELL! I was old enough then to realize what the he[[ was going on AND be astounded by how much the people of color had to go thru to just be able to cast a vote in ANY election! It thoroughly apalled me that ANYONE would not be able to vote in just simple elections, like who would be commisioner or school bonds, let alone for President or representatives!
Now they want to undo everything because the whites are not in the majority anymore! That is their whole reason for all the gerrymandering brinksmanship! They are AFRAID! Afraid that their voices may not be the only one's heard in elections! That is abysmally WRONG!!!
Well said Vivian!
"They are AFRAID! Afraid that their voices may not be the only one's heard in elections! " — Amen!!!
How fortunate you were, TC, to have participated in all this. If MLK, JFK< and RFK had lived, I think we would have had a much different country than we do today. Those of us who lived through those turbulent times are fortunate to have heard their words and remember. Most of the millenials don't even know who they were.
And all were killed for the same reason. They were all a threat to Vietnam War profits.
Well, I can't give you a green star on your own blog, or I would.
Kudos work!
Martin Luther King's dream didn't just touch upon voting rights for black people, it touched upon everything humanitarian in America: equality for all in every respect. In the years after this speech, which I didn't understand until I was 15 and had mastered enough English in 1971, things have changed for the better for a lot of people on many levels, but after Reagan and two Bushes things have deteriorated again and now, under a Democratic black president "at odds with" a Republican Congress, too many things happening remind us of the fifties. Yes MLK's dream is still as alive and relevant as ever, and I daresay perhaps even more now than ever.
Lona, so very well said.
As I listened, I too heard more than voting rights. I heard the strains of "equality for all in every respect".
It is up to each one of us to not let the dream die, but rather to elevate it for all to experience.
He said that there could neve be full equality as long as the US was pursuing war for profit.
Thanks all! Keep dreaming his dream!