PHOTOS: In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr…
HYANNIS – In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., about 60 people quietly marched today.
They walked around the block, starting near the Hyannis Public Library, past the Barnstable School Administration building, past the town hall on South Street, and then left onto Old Colony Road at the intersection with Ocean Street.
From there, the group quietly marched onto Main Street, up a slight incline and into the Federated Church…
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During the 1963 March on Washington, Dr. King delivered a 17 minute speech, which would later be called his “I have a dream” speech. During the speech, when prompted by a supporter who shouted “tell them about the dream,” Dr. King reportedly departed from his prepared text and delivered the following:
I say to you today, my friends, 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.
Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech has been regarded as one of the finest speeches in American history.
The following year, congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday. The holiday is officially observed in all 50 states on the third Monday in January each year.
This year the holiday falls on January 16th.
(Dr. King was born this date on January 15, 1929, and tomorrow’s holiday was planned to be observed near the time of King’s actual birthday.)
P.S. – This HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Freedom 101. Truth has no party or race or gender… and the great leaders, from Gandhi to Dr. King, knew this…
[Press play to hear a brief and engaging presentation of Dr. King’s powerful voice and wisdom… along with some of the other important leaders of that time period…]
