Fifty Years Ago King Had A Beautiful Dream
Asanga Abeygoonasekera
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. delivered in Washington, on August 28, 1963. This remarkable speech that touched many people’s hearts was delivered on the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation introduced by President Abraham Lincoln. It reminded the great values of human life and created hope for a better society to live in harmony with dignity and without racial segregation.
Just a few days ago we witnessed a horrific, suspected chemical attack in Syria; more than two hundred and fifty people have already been killed in Egypt; and only weeks ago a religious place in Iraq was attacked killing many innocent civilians. These are just a few stories we hear from across the globe and this all
occurs due to the disharmony that is prevalent among different groups. One may wonder whether the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. had, was a dream that is destined to remain unfulfilled. Even today we look back at this great speech and wonder if we, as humans, have made progress towards cashing the cheque of unity in our society? As Dr. King so eloquently says, America has given the coloured people a check that has come back marked “insufficient funds.” In that difficult environment he created hope among all groups and emphasized that it was the beginning, not the end. A new hope with promise was echoed and the moment to fight for individual rights was emphasized by deep, meaningful phrases such as “it is not time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism, to rise from the dark to the sunlight path of racial justice, from quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood, make real the promise of democracy.”
