Tuesday, November 22, 2011 |
5
comments
On August 28th 1963, A Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as other Civil Right leaders, led the March on Washington. Martin Luther King Jr. presented his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. An estimated 250,000 people gathered around the Lincoln Memorial and listened to his powerful, inspiring speech to promote Civil Rights and equality for African Americans. The purpose was not to protest with anger or threat, but with peace. King wanted “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Martin Luther King Jr. wanted freedom, not just for African-Americans like himself, but for “all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.” He began his speech stating that 5 score years previous the Emancipation Proclamation was signed; however blacks were still living under constant discrimination. He then goes on to tell protesters that the “bank of justice is bankrupt.” African- Americans who were only seeking equality, were being discriminated brutally. An example of this brutality was on May 14th 1961, the Freedom Riders traveling from Washington D.C. to New Orleans were attacked on their bus by “some 200 white men.” The men slashed the tires and beat on the bus, they continued to pursue the bus until it came to a stop. “As the chocking passengers disembarked, they were beaten with club s until Alabama state troopers arrived.” (The American Promise, pg:1033)
King wanted to gain freedom in a peaceful way rather than through “bitterness and hatred.” Kings most famous words were in the repetition of “I have a dream.” His dream was freedom; he argued that all men are created equally quoting the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." He went on to elaborate about his dream and included “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.” His dream was not out of reach or impossible like some may have thought. We haven’t quite achieved everything he preached for but almost 50 years later the progress is just what Martin Luther King Jr. would have loved to see.
