(NNPA) - Forty-seven years ago, our nation was in the midst of uncertainty, trepidation, fear, frustration, anger and unrest. Forty-seven years ago, we were simultaneously hopeful, dedicated, ambitious, determined and resilient.
Forty-seven years ago, people of all races gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to urge their federal government to live up to the standards and ethos embodied in our Constitution. Forty-seven years ago, we demanded equal access to education, voting rights, desegregation across the board, just employment opportunities and equanimity in society.
And forty-seven years ago, men and women from all walks of life, and from all ethnic persuasions rallied and marched for a larger federal government to intervene because states were failing to ensure our basic human civil rights. It was on August 28th, 1963, that the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. unequivocally summarized the sentiments of the over 250,000 attendees and millions across the country at home when he delivered his ‘I Have a Dream Speech’. Now forty-seven years later, it is time to Reclaim that Dream.