Sixty years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presented what has been dubbed the “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington. It moved a nation down the road to equality.
He said: “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.”
John Lewis, 23, was asked to tone down his remarks, saying the proposed civil rights legislation was too little too late.
The next year, Lewis — who King dubbed “the boy from Troy” — and others were attacked in Selma, Alabama, marching for voter rights. A shocked nation demanded change.
That happened when I was in school, watching it on TV like everybody else, never thinking I would ever be closer than the Evening News.
How fortunate I, a native of those red clay hills, had the opportunity later to meet fellow Atlantan Dr. King, not long before he died.
How blessed am I that John Robert (what his Alabama family called him) and I were close friends for 40 years. I treasure our conversations. I enjoyed making him laugh.Rallies like the one Saturday in Washington are good to bring people together and remind them of history. And goals yet accomplished.
But the greatest tribute to those towering figures of humanity is to continue their work. Keep dreaming of a better society and when necessary initiate good trouble to demonstrate determination.
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