Fifty years
ago the great march on Washington took place for many reasons; jobs,
desegregation, fair pay, voting rights but most of all for Freedom. Freedom was the root to getting all
other request heard and addressed accordingly. Collectively a community of
people came from all parts of America to join in or to witness this historical
event that still has some residual effects on the world today. So why not
simply remember this historical day? Why not look at the past 50 years and say
we have come a long way, or simply “We’ve come this far by faith?” Why must we
march?
Why, because
we still have much work to do! In the life and ministry of Dr. King and his
most famous speech “I Have a Dream”, we see how a man came to fulfill a mission
and died for that very calling. A man who understood his very purpose in life
and through his life gave many a chance to live in a world today that was none
like the one he lived 50 years ago. We hear in his speech
the power and the urgency of making this dream a reality. But most of all we
see part of the dream becoming a reality; where today we are able to witness
two term of a black family living in the white house and a black man in the
oval office influencing the entire world. We see that his dream was prophetic
and it has manifested in our lifetime.
This is no
different from the life of Ghandi, Garvey, Malcolm, and yes, Jesus— individuals who
understood that self-sacrifice was the greatest of all sacrifices in order to give
hope and ensure a life for those who would come after; individuals who were not concern
about the temporary NOW state, yet understood the act of Now would guarantee a
more permanent and hopeful future; individuals who understood that the only way to save
lives is to give up their own lives for the fight, for the struggle, for the
people.
Our Marching
50 years later are still for all the various reason our elders and ancestor
march and much more. We march to say that we have not forgotten. We march to
show our gratitude. We march for our children and our children’s children. We
march for the injustices that continue to plague our community today. We march
for Treyvon, Oscar, and Emmet. We still march… we must march for freedom!
By marching
this upcoming 50th anniversary of the March of Washington we are
saying, just as Martin said that we too have dreams as individuals and communal
front. We want are dreams to be heard and we are willing to make sacrifices to
ensure that are dreams come true. So we continue to march until this victory is
won.
