WARNING
Before
you start to read this rather long article, let me advice that if you are not
very patient or you are not such a good reader, you are better off not reading
it. If you live in denial and can't handle the truth then this article is not
for you.
I was following the story of the 50 year anniversary of the march on the Lincoln
memorial in Washington DC by Martin Luther King Jnr. where he gave one of the
world's most popular speech.
Before
the day of the anniversary I saw a documentary of a guy who was with Martin
Luther king on that day, standing right behind him as he made the speech.
The man talked about their determination as young men, how bold and
courageous they were even with the knowledge that they were not safe. They knew
they would be stepping on the toes of very influential people and the state
security but did not care about their safety.
They
went ahead to carry the weight of the black race on their shoulders knowing
that there will be consequences for their revolt and protests against injustice
and inequality.
They
did not know what the Outcome of their struggles would be at that time and did
not know how the black race would turn out fifty years from that day. They were
not sure about the future at that time but they knew they had a responsibility,
they knew they were born to lead; they knew that it was a part of their purpose
and destiny to fight for the rights of the black race. They wanted to fight for
the rights of the people of color who were also citizens of the country through
no fault of theirs. They did not ask for their forefathers to be dragged to
America through slavery and now that they are here, you want them to remain as
slaves from generation to generation even when the slave trade ended? Why?
So
now that they are here and have had all their children here and no one to start
tracing their roots to know where they originally came from, where are they
supposed to go when America is the only home they know?
I started thinking about
the kind of fearlessness, boldness and determination to make a difference. To
stand in front of hundreds of thousands to declare that even as a minority you
still have rights and you are not afraid to stand for what you believe in.
That
popular "I have a dream "speech is something that even our children
are made to memorize and recite. But I wonder how many people have ever
actually sat down to read that speech and really understand everything he was
saying and preaching about. How many of us have thought about it as not just an
inspirational speech but as a speech of revelation and evolution. How many of
us even know what he said in the full speech? Most people start to read it from
I HAVE A DREAM, not realizing that there were lots more. For the benefit of
those who do not even know the speech or who do not know all that he said, I
took the liberty of writing it out for you so you can understand where I am
going.
Martin
Luther King, Jr.
I Have
a Dream
delivered
28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.
“ I am
happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest
demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five
score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today,
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great
beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the
flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long
night of their captivity.
But
one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later,
the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation
and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a
lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of
American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come
here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a
sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects
of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every
American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men
as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today
that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of
color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has
given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked
"insufficient funds."
But we
refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe
that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this
nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon
demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We
have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of
Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the
tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of
democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of
segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our
nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of
brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's
children.
It
would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This
sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until
there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three
is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to
blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation
returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquillity
in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of
revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright
day of justice emerges.
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. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and
discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical
violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting
physical force with soul force.
The marvellous
new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a
distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by
their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up
with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is
inextricably bound to our freedom.
We
cannot walk alone.
And as
we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We
cannot turn back.
There
are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be
satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim
of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as
long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in
the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied
as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their
self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites
Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote
and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we
are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down
like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am
not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and
tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of
you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you
battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.
You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the
faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to
Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana,
go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow
this situation can and will be changed.
Let us
not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so
even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply
rooted in the American dream.
I have
a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of
its creed: "We hold 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 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 today!
I have
a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition"
and "nullification" -- one day right there 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!
I have
a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain
shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places
will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and
all flesh shall see it together.
This
is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With
this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of
hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of
our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will
be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail
together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one
day.
And
this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be
able to sing with new meaning:
My
country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land
where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From
every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if
America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And 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 snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let
freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But
not only that:
Let
freedom ring from Stone Mountain of 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.
And
when this happens, and when we allow 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”
These were not just wishes
from a man who wanted to be noticed, they were visions and revelations that
would cause evolution's and changes that would benefit the black race. He did
not read the speech on paper anymore, he spoke from his heart.
He
used the speech to also empower the people to continue the fight regardless of
the opposition.
I saw
some comments from some heavily retarded people who said he wasted his life for
nothing because the black race is still struggling for equality and
desegregation. How tremendously stupid can they be?
Do
they not realize that it is not magic? Fights like this continue for years unto
generations but the most important thing is that someone decided to start
somehow for there to be something to continue. He did not start the fight on that
podium; he didn't start the fight on the 28th of August 1963. He started in his
home, as a person with a vision planted deeply in his heart, he started with a
small group of people who believed in his vision and who were also tired of the
injustice, he started in small venues even though they were disrupted and
beaten by the police and other people, he continued even after they were
humiliated, spat on, disgraced, and threatened. He kept pushing and going
everywhere he could get to, television, radio, print, non violent rallies. As a
result of this people could not help but pay attention to this black clergyman
who was determined to give hope to the future of his kind.
He knew his life would be
in danger, he had a wife and four children whom he knew were not safe as well
but he believed that his existence was not about him but for the emancipation
of the black race.
This
reminded me so much of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for us to be
free from sin. Jesus gave us our freedom and the more I thought about it the
more I was convinced that God sent Martin Luther King Jnr. to stand up for the
black race alongside other human rights activists.
This
was not the only thing that caught my attention. There was something else that
I never paid attention to before now which we all already knew. I sat down on
the floor and started thinking about my own life and wondering if I had been
playing my part as regards the purpose for which I was created. He was 34 years old when he went on the march and made
the public speech.
Most
people today who are at that age will not even come out to help a neighbour
crying for help, most people at that age will not even come out of the car when
they see two boys beating up a little girl on the side of the road, they will
not even call the police for fear of questioning. Most of us will turn away and
say "I try to mind my business please I don't want any trouble". When
it comes to helping people, standing up for others, speaking the truth
regardless, we are quick to MIND OUR OWN BUSINESS. But when it comes to gossip,
scandal, controversy, envy, backbiting and the others, then we FORGET to MIND
OUR OWN BUSINESS.
50 years
after, blacks can go to schools of their choice, they can eat in restaurants of
their choice, they can be the biggest star on television and own the biggest
studios, they can be the highest paid musician in the world, they can make
Forbes list of the wealthiest and most influential, they can win the highest
awards ever and they can now be THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
We must remember that someone sacrificed himself
not just for his children but for every black man, woman and child to have a
chance. Nobody can get up and say
America is the same way it was 50 years ago. The battle is not over yet but the
changes are as result of the struggles of these people who sacrificed
everything for others to live free. He
did this at 34.
For the rest of us, what
are we standing up for if not our personal achievements? We fight for our
families, career, our own children, our own houses, our own everything, SELF
SELF SELF.
Here
we are claiming we are better than those that lived before us, we are more
intelligent, better technology, freedom, education. Yet at that age how many of
us today can boldly say we are courageous enough to fight for the rights of our
people. When somebody tries to do
that, the person is immediately condemned and labelled an ATTENTION SEEKER.
So
when we condemn everyone who tries, who will do the work? Who speak and who
will stand? Who speak for the young girls given out for early marriage, who
speak against communities who send their daughters out willingly for
prostitution, who speak against a people that will beat and burn four
young men who had their future ahead of them, who will speak against those who
are looting our money and cleaning out the nation's account while we stand and
get distracted by who is driving who out of Lagos, who will speak against the
high cost of petroleum products in an oil producing nation while we are blindly
following the shameless fights between members of the national assembly? I can
go on but what's the point?
My prayer for Nigeria is
that one day we will open our eyes and see what we have allowed a few men to do
to our children and their future, one day we will open our eyes and see that
our nation is about to be sold of all in the name of agricultural and
infrastructural development. One day we will be bold enough to say we have had
enough and this time put our hearts into it TOGETHER.
Until
then, good luck to you all.
May the soul of Martin
Luther King Jnr. and the souls of all the human rights activists all over the
world who were killed, rest in perfect peace.
Amen!
I am starting my year with a twenty one day fast and asking God for strength to see it through.
- Freedom to be the you whom God has created
