august18,2013 h3 freedom still a ‘dream’ · coln memorial with his “i have adream” speech...

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SUNDAYAUGUST 18, 2013 H3

might also point to the anti-slavery movement that culmi-nated in the Civil War and theliberation of the slaves withthe ratification of the 13thAmendment. Indeed, there hadbeen many other protests,picket lines and parades upuntil that point in our history,to be sure — some of them, likethe suffragist movement, withfar-reaching consequences thatcould redefine the roles ofpresident and first spouse in2016, with the potential electionof our first female president.

But because of what radioand television were able totransmit in late August 1963,the March onWashington waswitnessed by far more Amer-icans than any previous dem-onstration, and from the deepvaults of American history,now flung open with a few tapson a touchscreen, images andsounds from that day are easilysampled as part of the streamof signal events that define ournation’s memory.

That these images areblack-and-white and crackleonly enhances their mystique— and thus their power tomove and inspire our awe at“the majestic heights of meet-ing physical force with soulforce,” as King said during hisspeech. And so we are left towonder: What was it like to bethere? What could they see,smell and hear that we todaycannot, beyond the camera’sframe?

We know the temperature inWashington reached a high of

82, but how “sweltering” andpacked-in were the throngsgathered around the ReflectingPool? And how did King’s voicecarry, both up-close and as faraway as the WashingtonMonu-ment? What was said in theOval Office, as President JohnF. Kennedy and his attorneygeneral, brother Robert Ken-nedy, watched along with therest of the nation on TV?

And with such numbers —250,000 to 300,000 peoplesqueezed together, many ofthemwith signs, buttons andfolded white hats — how did itremain so peaceful and calm,with the sounds of respectfulclapping, a murmur here andthere, the call and response ofthe invigorated and engagedcrowd serving as backdrop andframe for King’s stirringwords and enhancing theirpower, just like a black churchduring a very special sermon?

TheMarch onWashington isnot only part of our common-place book of American histo-ry. A signal chapter, it changedthe physical and spiritual land-scape of our country, begin-ning with the signing of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 and theVoting Rights Act of 1965 with-in the next 24 months.

Because of them, the marchand the other “searing” imagesof the civil rights movement —Emmett Till’s mutilated body;Bull Connor’s snarling dogs;King’s poignant “Letter Fromthe Birmingham Jail;” themurder of our innocents, thosebeautiful “Four Little Girls” —there is now a black man in theWhite House, who, on the eve

of his first inaugural, returnedto the scene of the march totake in the full weight of thehistory he was about to make;who, in October 2011, helpeddedicate a memorial to King ashort walk from Lincoln’s at1964 Independence Ave.; andwho will again speak at theanniversary of the march atthe Lincoln Memorial later thismonth.

We are living through chal-lenging times with a mix ofpride at what we have accom-plished and despair at the factsthat tell us that, despite theformal smashing of “the mana-cles of segregation,” as Kingcalled them, too many blackmen, women and children 50years on from the march stilldwell “on a lonely island ofpoverty in the midst of a vastocean of material prosperity,”while others are “still languish-ing in the corners of Americansociety” feeling like “exile(s)in (their) own land.”

»As of last month, the un-employment rate among Afri-can-Americans was more than13 percent, almost double thenational average.

» The same is true of thepoverty rate: More than 27percent of black Americansdwell in poverty, comparedwith the nation’s average of 15.

» The poverty rate amongAfrican-American children isespecially alarming, as it wasin 1968, the year of the Kingassassination — both at morethan 30 percent.

» The black male prisonpopulation remains the highestof any demographic — 38 per-

cent of all inmates, state andfederal — despite the fact thatblacks make up only 13 percentof the U.S. population.

Those are hard numbers,numbers that the March onWashington explicitly soughtto change, along with eradicat-ing de jure segregation, andwhile we have come so far, andcrossed manymore rivers, wehave so muchmore work to doto realize the “dream” thatKing so beautifully and somemorably articulated at theculmination of his speech.

The memory of the marchtoday, like any family event, isfilled with more emotions thanfact: anticipation, nostalgia,reverence, worship, disap-pointment, exaggeration, wist-fulness, poignancy and pride.It was all these things then, too,because as King evidenced inhis speech, the protesters whogathered in August 1963 werevery conscious of place, ofwhere they had traveled andwhere they hoped to go, and ofthe fact that, while there hadbeen other nonviolent massgatherings — fromDetroit, inJune of that summer, whereKing had delivered an earlierversion of his “Dream” speech,to Los Angeles — this wasWashington, D.C., the capital ofthe nation, the perfect settingfor measuring progress sinceemancipation.

In the distance stood monu-ments to GeorgeWashingtonand Thomas Jefferson, remind-ers of the “bad check” that hadbeen written out to our en-slaved ancestors at the found-ing and, for their descendants,

was still marked “insufficientfunds.” Behind King, seatedand imposing, was the GreatEmancipator himself, Lincoln,whose memorial had becomethat “hallowed spot to remindAmerica of the fierce urgencyof now” and a reminder that inthe 100 years since emancipa-tion, little measurable progresshad been made, in practicalterms, for those attempting toreplace the badges of slaverywith the rights of citizenship;with equal access to opportuni-ty and place; with “brother-hood,” the elimination of “po-lice brutality” and a decent-paying, respectable job.

TheMarch onWashingtonfor Jobs and Freedomwas theemotional summit of the civilrights movement. Fifty yearson, let it inspire you, just as itdid all of us who heard it live,whether on the Mall or in ourliving rooms. Let it challengeyou to continue pursuing thearc of change that King and hisdevoted followers risked andsacrificed their lives to effect,so that this generation of Afri-can-Americans and the chron-ically poor would be the first inour country’s long history ofrace relations to have equalaccess to the promise of Amer-ica. Let it be your opportunityto “let freedom ring.”

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Al-phonse Fletcher University Profes-sor and the director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and Afri-can-American Research at HarvardUniversity. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Root.

GATES: 50 years after march, much work remains to claim King’s ‘Dream’Continued from Page H1

When I was a little boy,mymother alwaysshared history with

me. History, however, was nev-er “his story”— history wasalways “my story,” a story inwhich I participated. I think itwas her example that has mademe feel welcomed to partici-pate in the life of the communi-ty. This particular story is aboutmy small connection to the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.’s fam-ous “I Have a Dream” speechand its connections to Thomas

Merton, wholived the secondhalf of his life atthe Abbey ofGethsemani nearBardstown, Ky.

OnMarch18,1958, Merton hadhis famousepiphany at whatis now the cornerof Fourth Street

andMuhammad Ali Boulevard.Merton saw the people of Louis-ville “walking around shininglike the sun.” On the 40th anni-versary of this event, I attendeda dedication ceremony in whichthe historic marker in down-town Louisville was unveiled.

While attending that service,I thought of King and how he,too, transformed a location.King had transformed the Lin-colnMemorial with his “I Havea Dream” speech given on Aug.28, 1963. Because of a visitthere with mywife, Sarah, Irealized that there was no in-scription there recognizingKing’s dream.

Manymonths later, in No-vember 1998, I wrote a letter tothen-U.S. Rep. Ann Northupsuggesting that a marker beplaced where King gave thespeech. For me, this was themost important speech of the20th century, given in the shad-ow of our greatest president. Inmy letter, I told howMertontransformed what is nowMer-ton Square in Louisville andhow I wanted to bringmy “yetunborn” children to the spot ofKing’s dream to tell them aboutKing and our Kentucky-bornpresident, Abraham Lincoln.

In late 1999 and into 2000,Northup’s office pursued theidea until it was determinedcongressional legislation wouldbe required. In 2000, a lawwaspassed to install the marker at

the LincolnMemorial. (In anironic footnote, the law order-ing the inscription was signedby Strom Thurmond, who un-dertook one of the longest fili-busters in congressional historyagainst the Civil Rights Act forwhich King is so famous.)

As fate would have it, theinscription was prepared to beinstalled on the 40th anniversa-ry of the speech in August 2003.This was precisely what I hadsuggested in my letter writtenin 1998. Our family attended the

event, including our youngchildren, Lilly, who was 4, andLincoln, who was 2. Nelson, ourthird child, was not yet born.

I was given an opportunity tospeak during the dedication.Duringmy speech, I spoke toLilly and Lincoln about Kingand how the civil rights move-ment was something of a sec-ond civil war. A civilwar foughtlargely with non-violence, lov-ing power and courage— not

guns and force. It was an amaz-ing experience for our wholefamily to have a front-row seaton such a profound part ofAmerican history and to sharethat experience with the likesof Coretta King, her childrenand John Lewis, the only livingspeaker from the first MarchonWashington. Interestingly,the late Yolanda King, the el-dest daughter of King, said thatall she remembered about thespeech is her father’s referenceto “my four little children.”

How does this story connectback toMerton and his Louis-ville epiphany?

I had always assumed that itwas an accident that I thoughtof King during theMertonceremony in 1998. I had as-sumed there was no connectionbetween King andMerton dur-ing their lives. In 2008, howev-er, I learned that King wasplanning a retreat withMertonthat would have occurred ifKing had not been assassinatedinMemphis, Tenn., in 1968.There was, therefore, a connec-tion between King, this man offaith and action, andMerton,this man of faith and contem-plation.

InMarch 2008, I attended aceremony for the 50th anniver-

sary ofMerton’s epiphany.During the event, Metro Coun-cilman David Tandy was tounveil the sign naming thelocation ThomasMertonSquare. Those were the plans atleast. Instead, the wind blew offthe covering for the sign whilethe Abbott of Gethsemani wasblessing the location with aprayer. I told Tandy that thislocation was blessed by a powerhigher than theMetro Council.

This is the same yearning Ihave for the 50th anniversaryof King’s dream.

My prayer for the anniversa-ry of the speech is that the windwill blow away the veil thatcovers King’s dream.

My prayer is that a powerhigher than Congress will blessthe legacy of those who gavethe “last full measure of devo-tion” in the civil rights move-ment.

My prayer is that the breathand spirit of themovement willenter into our collective heartsand bring us all one day closerto sitting down at King’s be-loved “table of brotherhood.”

TomWilliams is co-host for thePartnership for a CompassionateLouisville and a member in the lawfirm of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC.

Freedom still a ‘Dream’Let 50th anniversarymark fresh startsBy TomWilliamsSpecial to The Courier-Journal

TomWilliams

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, when he delivered his "I Have aDream" speech. AFP/GETTY IMAGES

TomWilliams, with his son,Lincoln, at the inscription.

MARCH ONWASHINGTONPROGRAMWho: Louisville Bar AssociationWhat: A program celebrating the50th anniversary of the Rev. MartinLuther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”speechWhen: Aug. 28, 1 to 2 p.m.Where: Louisville Bar Center, 600W. Main St., LouisvilleDetails: The program will feature avideo replay of King’s speech as wellas remarks from Jefferson CircuitJudge Brian C. Edwards and at-torney TomWilliams (whose effortsresulted in an inscription at theLincoln Memorial commemoratingthe site of King’s speech; see accom-panying article). The program is freeand open to the public.

“Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the wholestaircase.”

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Time: 08-16-2013 17:34 User: shaghani PubDate: 08-18-2013 Zone: KY Edition: 1 Page Name: H 3 Color: CyanMagentaYellowBlack