“I say to you today, my
friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still
have a dream.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and
live out the true meaning of its creed … 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 slave owners 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
state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
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 that one day, down in Alabama, … little black
boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and
white girls as sisters and brothers.
“I have a dream today.”
An all-embracing, awesome dream described in awesome words.
How it must have stirred the hearts of the over quarter million participants in
the unprecedented March on Washington who heard Martin Luther King Jr. on
August 28, 1963, exactly fifty years ago from the day I write this piece. The
words have reverberated ever since, touching hearts and inspiring minds the
world over.
Key words in the all-inclusive speech: all human beings are
created equal; all are brothers and sisters; freedom and justice for all;
content of character, not color of skin, to be the guiding light. The
principles of equality, liberty and fraternity have been the perennial
inspiration of all great revolutions from the French to the American, and are
enshrined in the preamble of the constitution of India. King contextualized
them in the oppressive situation of free America in a brilliant moment,
deviating from the prepared text.
King led the African-American Civil Rights Movement which
organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Their specific
demands were: to end racial segregation in public schools; to bring about
legislation for civil rights; to enact laws to prohibit racial discrimination
in employment; to protect civil rights activists from police brutalities; and
to demand minimum wages for all workers. It must be noted that the demands were
positive, for empowerment, and not against anybody. They posited for inclusion,
not exclusion. That’s a lesson divisive forces everywhere must learn. The March
on Washington and King’s speech were instrumental in focusing on civil rights
among the political liberals. It resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights
Act, 1964 and the Voting Rights Act, 1965 in the USA. The Acts are in place,
but the social transition is slow. No doubt Barack Obama, an Afro-American,
rules today from the White House for a second term, and many others are
occupying powerful seats, but social prejudice still runs deep. The dream of
King still awaits full realization in America. The March must still continue.
King was influenced by the teachings of Jesus Christ, Mahatma
Gandhi’s non-violent activism, and Leo Tolstoy’s writings. He said that his
visit to India in 1959 deepened his understanding of non-violent resistance. “Being
in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent
resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their
struggle for justice and human dignity.”
King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The following
year he began his opposition to the American involvement in the Vietnam war. He
said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military
defense than on program of social uplift is approaching a spiritual death.”
He was assassinated in
1968 at the young age of 39. The dream lives on.
Tributes have been paid to King in the Aug 26/Sep 2, 2013
issue of the Time magazine, commemorating 50 years of “I have a dream”. I shall
conclude quoting from two of them.
Jesse Jackson, minister and civil rights activist: “One thing
we should learn from Dr. King is that the forces of equal protection should
neither sleep nor slumber… The struggle for democracy and equal protection will
never be a past-tense discussion.”
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani student activist and winner of
2013 Children’s Peace Prize: “Martin Luther King Jr. inspired millions of
people, including me, to dream. His words – still so powerful after half
century - empower us to continue the
journey to our destination of peace and equality… His legacy is that those
words reached far beyond America’s shores and far beyond the generation to whom
he spoke… They are relevant to me, a girl born almost 30 years after he died,
from a country more than 7,000 miles away”
Published in The Navhind Times, Panorama 01.09.2013
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