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As thousands reach out to simply touch a man named Barack Obama, they satisfy a need to feel confirmation the physical epitome of a dream come true stands before them. The literal touch on the physical man confirms to them what they dared only to dream has become a reality. They will not wake up tomorrow morning only to find they imagined the rise of a man named Barack Obama. It is truly real, something many people did not expect to see happen in their lifetimes.
One can only wonder what Martin Luther King would be saying and feeling at this time if he were here to see this. He too had a dream, and in his own words:
"And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!" (emphasis added to the words of Martin Luther King delivered August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in his famous speech commonly referenced as the "I Have A Dream" speech.)
Barack Obama often references the fierce urgency of now, also a term used by Dr. King in that speech. One must assume Martin Luther King would be smiling down on this African-American man who has heard his words and today advances them. And on this day, the day of the 40-year anniversary of the shooting of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., we remember he too had dreams for this Country. I wonder what would he and his brother Jack, along with Martin, would think of this magnificent manifestation of the tearing down of another wall, that wall that has for centuries divided people of this Country by race, by origin, by partisan politics and by class. It is their blood which was spilled on this land in sacrifice for that principle that we are all equally citizens of this Country. On that very principle, we were warned by our forefathers we must zealously protect the nature of structure of the government they had created. They left these words as a warning, "It's a Republic, if you can hold on to it" (emphasis added.) If we are truly to hold on to this Republic which we have dangerously seen nearly slip away over the past eight years, we must unite with Barack Obama as he fights to restore and protect the concept of we are all one people.
If you believe in the trite truism, as I do, that united we stand, divided we fall, the events of recent days must be observed on this very day as the culmination of sacrifices rendered by many who have gone before to pave the road down which Barack Obama marches today -- that infamous Road to The White House.
I believe these three men who openly and actively campaigned for advancement of civil rights for African-Americas when it was so unpopular to do those in the face of that element of our society still tightly clutching their prejudices, who sacrificed their lives for this Country, would say these words: The sacrifices we made, as well as the sacrifices of others who joined in our fight, were well worth it. We hand the gauntlet to this man, this man named Barack Obama, to finish this fight. And on another day sometime in the future, we all will perceive people of color with our color-blind eyes looking simply beneath the skin to perceive the character and cut of conscience to evaluate the worth of the man.
And so, on this day when we remember Robert F. Kennedy, which inevitably leads to memories of Jack and Martin, as well, we watch Barack Obama march down the road to open the doors of the Office Oval. We have to acknowledge the milestone we today pass, as well as those who began paving that road when it was perceived a passage was needed. We know that when those doors to Oval Office are finally opened, the dreams of Robert F. Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Martin Luther King, as well as many other Americans, will be realized.
In January 2009, may we all climb to the mountain top, and in recognition of those who have gone before us as well as the one who led us there that day, I dare to dream we will all "be free at last" ....
Sam
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