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King Day Message for President Barack Obama: Workers Have Dreams Too

By Commentaries/Opinions

imgresBy Joe Madison

There was a lot of talk around the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington this weekend that Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream remains unrealized. The March, of course, was for jobs and freedom, and commentators and activists alike rightly noted that much work remains on both counts. The Supreme Court this summer struck the core of the Voting Rights Act, and the recent Trayvon Martin killing and legal battles surrounding New York City’s stop and frisk policies underscore just how prejudiced our criminal justice system continues to be.

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Remembering the Power of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Words

By Commentaries/Opinions

pweek_carsonWhen I participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, I was fortunate to witness an exquisite example of Dr. King’s oratory, but I did not then understand the full meaning of King’s concluding “I Have a Dream” speech. Only after his widow, Coretta Scott King, chose me to edit her late husband’s papers did I begin to appreciate Dr. King’s most famous speech in the broader context of his life and times. In cogent, metaphorically rich passages, his speech expressed the universal longing for freedom and justice.

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Ron Daniels

A Marshall Plan and Economic Sanctions/Boycotts

By Commentaries/Opinions, Vantage Point Articles

I was privileged to attend the March on Washington in 1963, and count it as one of the most profound experiences of my life. The sheer outpouring of thousands of people, particularly Black people, was a testament to our aspirations and determination to win jobs, justice and freedom. The March proved to be a decisive moment in the Black Freedom Struggle and for the nation. August 24th I was privileged to attend the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington (MOW).

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Remembering Dr. King, the Black Community Organizer

By Commentaries/Opinions

speakers-Makani Themba-NixonBy Makani Themba

As the nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, there is a strong temptation to get stuck in a kind of nostalgia for the good old days of a simpler civil rights movement; a movement without angry Black people, afros and shattered glass. And in that nostalgia, sweep under the rug that, although the civil rights movement helped all people live better lives, it was unabashedly a movement borne out of Black organizing traditions to improve the lives of Black people.

 

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Commentary, Articles and Essays by Rev. Jesse Jackson

50 years later: The president’s response

By Commentaries/Opinions, Rev Jesse Jackson

Lead story image

This Wednesday, Aug. 28, on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “Dream” oration, President Barack Obama will speak from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Much of the press is speculating about whether the president can reach the “King standard.” Can he deliver an address with the poetry and the vision that made Dr. King’s speech timeless? But I suggest to you that this is the wrong standard by which to measure the president. Barack Obama isn’t the leader of a March on …

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Dr. Boyce: Black Leaders Who are Getting the Job Done

By Commentaries/Opinions

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

The funny thing about so-called “black leadership” is that much of our perception of black public figures is controlled and managed by predominantly white media. Therefore, it is no coincidence that nearly every prominent black person who speaks firmly for the rights of African Americans has been typecast as either a buffoon, a crook or a greedy, selfish liar.

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