"On the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. though we have come a long way in race relations and the uplifting of African-Americans and other minorities out of the throes of poverty and the binding ties of discrimination both poverty and discrimination are alive and well in today's America.
Looking at it from a historical perspective and through the eyes of Dr. King one wonders how he would view the progress that he began over 50 years ago, when he reluctantly became the icon of the Civil Rights Movement. I believe he would acknowledge that there has been progress made, but I also believe he would be appalled at the efforts from the right to do away with many of the things he gave his life to see come to fruition.
More than any other man or woman Dr. King understood this nation and its people. He knew that what dishonors one member of our society dishonors each member. He knew that America and its leaders knew what the right thing to do was, but that they had to be prodded and pushed to make the right thing come to realization.
He understood that poverty and the laws of discrimination were yokes that bound millions of our citizens to lives of quiet desperation. And that unless those issues were addressed things would never change for millions of Americans.
I believe he would be appalled at the attempts across the country to prevent millions of our citizens from exercising their right to vote. He knew that the ballot box was one of the greatest tools available to those at the lower end of the economic scale and he worked hard to ensure that the right to vote for every citizen was not infringed.
He would also be appalled at the laws that have been passed to take away the rights of public employees to collectively bargain together. Dr. King knew that unions and their members were the key to helping bring people out of poverty and giving them the chance to realize their piece of the American Dream.
He would be aghast that right-wing politicians wanting to end Affirmative Action. I believe he would be standing with the 99 percent in this nation as he always did from the beginning of his crusade to end discrimination and make people see that our nation would never fully realize its destiny until every citizen had a voice and a say in our grand experiment in democracy.
It was his firm belief that we are all one and that unless we worked towards that end we never could be a free democratic republic nor realize the ideals our nation's founders envisioned. Dr. King became the conscience of our nation because he knew that unless every member of our society had an opportunity to share in the things this nation had to offer we would never become the greatest nation on earth.
We became a nation to provide equal opportunities for our citizens from the most lowly impoverished member the wealthiest to realize the fruits of their labors. We became a nation so that every member of our society could have a say in how we were taxed and how those taxes were spent. Dr. King understood this better than any other citizen or leader of our nation ever did.
If he were still alive today he would be working to ensure that every member of our society was counted and that they too would have the opportunity to share in making this nation the greatest nation that has ever existed. That is and should be his legacy! Happy Birthday Dr. King!
Let us celebrate his legacy! Let us continue the struggle!" ----- Bob Bearden
"On the 83rd anniversary of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. though we have come a long way in race relations and the uplifting of African-Americans and other minorities out of the throes of poverty and the binding ties of discrimination both poverty and discrimination are alive and well in today's America. Looking at it from a historical perspective and through the eyes of Dr. King one wonders how he would view the progress that he began over 50 years ago, when he reluctantly became the icon of the Civil Rights Movement. I believe he would acknowledge that there has been progress made, but I also believe he would be appalled at the efforts from the right to do away with many of the things he gave his life to see come to fruition.
More than any other man or woman Dr. King understood this nation and its people. He knew that what dishonors one member of our society dishonors each member. He knew that America and its leaders knew what the right thing to do was, but that they had to be prodded and pushed to make the right thing come to realization.
He understood that poverty and the laws of discrimination were yokes that bound millions of our citizens to lives of quiet desperation. And that unless those issues were addressed things would never change for millions of Americans.
I believe he would be appalled at the attempts across the country to prevent millions of our citizens from exercising their right to vote. He knew that the ballot box was one of the greatest tools available to those at the lower end of the economic scale and he worked hard to ensure that the right to vote for every citizen was not infringed.
He would also be appalled at the laws that have been passed to take away the rights of public employees to collectively bargain together. Dr. King knew that unions and their members were the key to helping bring people out of poverty and giving them the chance to realize their piece of the American Dream.
He would be aghast that right-wing politicians wanting to end Affirmative Action. I believe he would be standing with the 99 percent in this nation as he always did from the beginning of his crusade to end discrimination and make people see that our nation would never fully realize its destiny until every citizen had a voice and a say in our grand experiment in democracy.
It was his firm belief that we are all one and that unless we worked towards that end we never could be a free democratic republic nor realize the ideals our nation's founders envisioned. Dr. King became the conscience of our nation because he knew that unless every member of our society had an opportunity to share in the things this nation had to offer we would never become the greatest nation on earth.
We became a nation to provide equal opportunities for our citizens from the most lowly impoverished member the wealthiest to realize the fruits of their labors. We became a nation so that every member of our society could have a say in how we were taxed and how those taxes were spent. Dr. King understood this better than any other citizen or leader of our nation ever did.
If he were still alive today he would be working to ensure that every member of our society was counted and that they too would have the opportunity to share in making this nation the greatest nation that has ever existed. That is and should be his legacy! Happy Birthday Dr. King!
Let us celebrate his legacy! Let us continue the struggle!" ----- Bob Bearden
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