It was 48 years ago this Sunday that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have A Dream Speech” on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The date was August 28, 1963 and hundreds of thousands gathered in Mother Nature’s oven to hear one of the most famous speeches of the 21st century. Dr. Kings’ word and delivery of the “I Have A Dream “speech has been studied as one the most significantly historic speeches of all time. Mother Nature has whispered that she will not be as kind this weekend as she was on that day. She has been flailing her arms, and blowing her breath and threatening to intensify her physical tantrum. As a result Executives of the King Memorial Foundation have postponed ceremonies scheduled for this weekend to dedicate a memorial built to honor Dr. King, the Civil Rights Leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner recipient.
This writer saw the memorial yesterday for the first time, and it was an emotional experience. It was more than the image of a man that looks like me with a presence on the National Mall in our nation’s capital. I felt the spirit of the man and his dream more than his color and that was both the irony of his legacy and the unfulfilled vision of his dream. I saw a man that had been sent by God to unite us, he just happens to be a man of color.
As I went through the narrow path of the entrance to the memorial I wondered why others were there. I wonder if they had come to see the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, or the statue of the man of peace and nonviolence or if they had come to see the statue of Dr. King, the first man of color to be so immortalized in such a big way in such a big place. As I stood at the memorial I saw an old woman in a wheel chair, her great great granddaughter was pushing her. I said Good Morning and asked her how it felt to see the statue of Dr. King and she said “God has blessed me so. I lived to see President Obama in the White House and I’m here to see this statue of Dr. King, I am so happy God just let me see it, I am so happy”. I excused myself for asking her how young she was and replied “I turned 91 years old, on the 14th of August”, I am 91-years old. As I looked around at those standing with me at the monument I saw a rainbow of colors, a range of ages and a variety of ethnicities. It was a diversity that I believe would have made Dr. King smile.
I am African American and the experiences of my life as black person in this country made the experience almost overwhelming. I reflected on all that he endured, the strength that he had and the class with which he confronted bigotry and hatred. I thought of his speech about the mountain top and of his death and its aftermath. I was reenergized to continue his work of spreading the message of colorless vision and judgment by character content. I understood why it was such a happy day for the 91-year young great great grandmother I met earlier.
The walk to the monument is not a short one, those that made the journey walked some distance to see the 30 foot statue that seem to befit the imposing impact his life had on all our lives, our country and the world. The color of the granite is peaceful and calming. The words about the Mountain of Despair on the bottom of each side of the statue sum Dr. King’s philosophy and his view of himself as a servant to mankind from God. I felt his spirit there and I heard his voice in my ear reminding me that I do my part as a citizen of humanity and a child of God.
I encourage you to put a visit to the King Memorial on the list of things to see when you visit our nations’ capital, not because he was a black man that did great things, but simply because he was Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
There will be dedication on Sunday; the ceremony has been postponed indefinitely. I encourage everyone to go and see it, to stand before it and look up at the eyes; if you do that we can each make sure that his dream is not like deferred or dries up and withers like a raisin in the sun.