TheLoop21.com

By: Dennis J. Freeman (Add to your loop)
Tue, 09/02/2008 - 11:01

Dr. King's March on Washington paved the way for Obama today

Speak Out asked what Obama's nomination means to you.

Thank you for sharing your dream, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Thank you for uttering those prophetic words 45 years ago to the day, about your dream that one day your four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Today is that day.

It is because of King’s dream and the will of God that 45 years after he made that historic speech about racial unity and bridging this nation into one of inclusiveness, that Sen. Barack Obama stands on the brink of his own monumental achievement. Today is the day that many African Americans didn’t think they would be alive to ever see: a black man formally introduced as the Presidential nominee of a major political party.

Today is the day when the tears will certainly flow. In fact, they’ll rain down, washing away scores of bitterness, bigotry and inequality. It is a day where europhic joy finally dispatches bounded frustration and internal inferiority from centuries of injustices thrust upon black people. There will be no sadness today for black America. No, what we feel today can never be measured by mere words written in the nation’s periodicals or lumped in voice-overs and soundbites by political experts and self-righteous pundits.

For every police dog ordered to tear the skin off blacks marching for justice during the Jim Crow era by racist cops; we applaud, in the quiet of our spirits, every step Obama takes to the podium towards his historical moment. For every water hose that fired streams of water, bowling over and punishing black men, women and children due to the hateful commands given by law enforcement; we release past hurts to see the future.

For all of the bombings that destroyed our homes and left our families shattered; we stomp our feet in glee. For all the the terrorist acts rendered by the Klu Klux Klan and other white supremacist goups that villified blacks for wanting to be equal in citizenship; we bask in the glow of this celebration. For all of the Emmett Tills, Rosa Parks, Stokely Carmichaels, Malcolm Xs, Thurgood Marshalls and Adam Clayton Powells of the world; King’s dream is becomes reality today.

That dream is realized today because of a man who embraced the mantra that all God’s children are equal. King’s dream is being fulfilled today because this country has grabbed ahold of his vision that this nation would one day rise up and uphold its philosophy that all men (and women) are one of the same. We’re all brothers and sisters.

Today, we have a man who believes in those principles. That man is Sen. Barack Obama. And by the will of the people he is on the brink of becoming president of a nation that onced forged slavery into its way of life, forcing blacks into sub-servant roles. As Sen. Obama officially accepts the nomination from the Democratic Party for president tonight he solidifies King’s dream, not as just some mystical speech crafted to make us feel good, but to assure us reality is sure to follow.

And for black America reality is now.
     
 

What did you feel most Nov. 4, 2008, the day we elected President Obama?

Frustrated at the voting chaos

Worry about the outcome

Pride, excitement about Obama

Disappointment in McCain, media

I don't remember