40th Anniversary

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination so in honor of him I thought I would post a video of one of his most famous speeches. As well as a paper I wrote recently on the feelings I had after first really viewing and listening to his words.



I was brought to tears by reading and watching the, “I Have a Dream”, speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I could feel the emotion in the words. King truly believed what he was preaching. His speech was not just his hopes and dreams for the future, but also a warning to people of what could happen if they went too far in the other direction. He warned them not to let themselves be absorbed with hate. He warned them not to resort to violence because there was already enough violence against them. He warned white America that they were not going to just lie down and take it anymore. It was time for a change, time to pay on a long overdue debt.
“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.” I love this section of the speech because he is telling the whole world that, “We are here and we deserve as much any white man, and we refuse to back down”. It is an inspiration to me that they could stand up to such adversity and praise God for what they had and what they hoped to one day have.
While watching the speech, I was in awe of how many people were there. It was a really incredible thing to see. I was honestly surprised at how many white people were in attendance. I think we are often taught that black people were alone and had to struggle against all of white America, when in fact they had support and even white individuals fighting in the trenches with them. Many Americans probably had the same hopes and dreams for the future that Martin Luther King had. My grandparents taught my parents to respect everyone, and that no woman or man is better than another because of the color of their skin or for any other reason. They may not have been on the front lines with the African Americans but they had begun to change beliefs in their own homes.
King dreamed that one day his children would be able to live in a world that was just and treated them as equals. Have we reached that point? I believe that we have come closer to the end but we still have quite a bit of work left to do. There is still racism in our country and barriers that keep individuals back from realizing their dreams. We as Americans need to continue or to start teaching our children to love instead of hate. The best way to do this is by our example. We must watch how we treat other people, what we say and do in our homes will be reflected in our children.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is still alive today and the struggle continues. May we choose to follow the outline of his speech; to “work together, to pray together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day”, to become the great nation that he describes.