National Holiday
I sit here at home being paid today because it is a national holiday, Dr, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is a holiday that has come under attack by some people. Why? Because Dr. King was a man who called for freedom and equality for ALL people without regard to the color of their skin. It's hard to believe that there are still people out there who would object to such teachings, but there are far too many in my estimation. Of course, in my estimation, even one such person is too many.
Dr. King was a great man whose teachings touched the hearts and souls of many people, both black and white. His dream of a world in which all people could live in peace and harmony with one another was an admirable one, one to which we should all aspire to make come true. He did not advocate violence or wrongdoing. His life, his teachings, and all that he stood for make him a fine example of what a proud American should truly be, certainly a much better one than our current president.
How could anyone listen to or read these excerpts from his famous I Have A Dream speech and not be moved?
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.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed --- "We hold these 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 slaveowners 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 desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and 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 the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, and rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight,and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
And if America is to be a great nation this must come true. 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 snowcapped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California.
But not only that --- let freedom ring from Stone Mountain in 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.
When we let 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!
Perhaps those who cannot accept his teachings find some fault in their own character. I for one, am a very white woman who would quite proudly call this man my brother.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., may your dream live on to inspire the hearts of my children, and their children...
