CNN is broadcasting Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech today, the entire thing. It will be good to see more than the few clips they usually play. I remember the original speech on the evening news, back when the world was black and white. Television, drinking fountains, classrooms. Take your pick: It was all black and white.
From our tiny, totally white town tucked into the Ozark Mountains, it was hard to understand what was going on in the cities—the protests and marches and such. But when Chet Huntley and David Brinkley showed us footage of a fire hose being turned on a black man to keep him from registering to vote, we got the picture.
I tear up every time I see the t shirt: Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barack could run. Barack ran so our children can fly.
"Our children" is all children, of all ages. We fly forward from this moment when hope triumphed and Martin's dream prevailed. History will judge Obama by the content of his character and the results of his actions. He may be starting in a deep hole, but tomorrow marks the starting of a brand-new day.
God bless us, everyone.
6 comments:
The Rosa Parks story is such a great example of how we are all interconnected - how just one "small" act can ripple for all humankind!
When I taught journalism, I used to give my students the text of the MLK speech and have them write a news story as if they were covering it. I wanted them to add in weather information, crowd estimates, etc.
Same way with Gettysburg address.
It was one way of getting them to read what they needed to read.
The sunset here is incredible and tomorrow will be a new dawn of a new day!
Indeed, "God bless us, everyone"!
We watch Dr. King's speech with the kids on YouTube. They attend a totally integrated school, and they both know they ARE Dr. King's dream manifested.
Amen.
Yes! I love that shirt. I also love the one that says, in children's writing, "When I grow up I can be... Thank you Mr.Obama."
:)
Awesome. Here's to that start of a brand new day!
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