Today, we mark 50 years since Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his iconic I Have a Dream speech. Celebrations are taking place today on the Mall in Washington DC. Presidents are speaking and the day will be covered relentlessly by the media. What has been interesting to me this week is seeing archival footage of media coverage of that day 50 years ago. How is was covered in print, on the radio, and on television is fascinating. Some of the news stories bordered on poetry. People definitely understood that they were seeing something special.
A lot has changed in America since that day. Much of it is for the better. Some of it is most definitely not. And some things at their core haven't changed much at all, at least in parts of our nation. My heart wars between hope and despair.
One of the saddest legacies of this speech is that it is not itself open and free to the world. The King estate keeps it under lock and key, seemingly for little beyond power, profit, and prestige. I would like to think that Dr. King would feel shame at this today, but sadly, it was he who started that ball rolling. It does not diminish the speech, but it does diminish its legacy.
Today, however, the world will have the chance to watch the speech in its entirety on both CNN and MSNBC. Broadcasts will happen this afternoon and again tonight. MSNBC is airing the speech at 8:00 PM eastern time in the United States with limited commercial breaks as part of a special All In with Chris Hayes. I have listened to the speech; It was part of a public speaking course that I took at Stanford. I have seen bits and pieces of the television footage over the years. I have not, however, ever seen the entire thing. I find that exceedingly weird and quite sad. I have my DVR primed. I hope that you will, too. And make sure that your children watch it. It may be their final chance for another 50 years. (Well, until 2038.)
I hope that we all have a dream. When we all actually do, the dream may finally be realized.
28 August 2013
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