50 Years Later – Still Working Towards Dr. King’s Dream

If you didn’t have a chance to see the 50th Anniversary Remembrance of the March on Washington this afternoon, you might want to do yourself a favor and tune into the replay tonight on C-SPAN. I know, I know, C-Span Nick, do I even get that channel, or care about that channel? Well you do and you should tonight. Because 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech. I’m sure you all heard snippets of it from school and others posting the speech today. His speech talks about how one day we will all live in a society where you are not judged by the color of your skin, but by the content of your character. Take a moment to watch the replay tonight, see what John Lewis had to go though, how President Clinton was inspired, what Dr. King’s children have to say 50 years later.

You might be asking, What does this have to do with me? You might have it pretty good, a decent wage at a good job, a home to walk into every evening. You even feel that your friends are doing alright, when we go to vote, there isn’t a problem, I didn’t even have to wait in line, you might say. Well, this could all change much faster than you think. So many fought, and died, so that there is a decent wage and job for you. You are able to get a home in any town you want. You can cast your vote very simply. This was not the case, just 50 years ago for so many.

You might not have ever been affected by any of these things, you might have been born without having to ever worry about any of this, but guess what, I’m sure you can think of one or two people who had to deal with these issues. And therein lies the problem. Every one of us needs to fight for each other’s rights until we can all live without the fear that something can be taken away from you or your friend, just because the Supreme Court made a decision, or because your state changed a law. That’s the only way we can move forward as a society.

Coretta King said that every generation needs to continue to fight, that we can’t become complacent. Are you going to fight for yourself, for your friends, for your neighbor? I know I am putting in the time, but as Dr. King said, I can’t get there alone. Whether it is segregation, discrimination, marriage equality, women’s rights, or something else, there is something that is affecting you or a friend. So let’s get out there and continue to fight for the dream together.

Fired Up!  Ready To Go!

What’s Next?

It was great to see so many people step up and reach out to their perspective representatives in Washington D.C. letting them know how they need to really look at the language of the SOPA and PIPA bills that were coming up for a vote. The vote has actually been postponed and many who were for it are now against it. It even seems that the bill is not going to even come up for a vote anymore. That’s great news, everyone rallied around a few brands who had a good idea (Reddit, Wikipedia) to go dark for a day in protest. This caused other larger sites to participate in one way or another, Google blocking out their logo, WordPress having a plug-in for individual bloggers to have their site go dark for the day. Many friends on Facebook blocked out their photo, as well as on Twitter. Word spread quickly, and people rallied around it and Congress heard our collective voice and is taking action accordingly. Collectively, we gathered together and spoke up and now are being heard.

But what’s the next step? What else is on the horizon that we can speak up about? We can’t be one and done, can we? Let’s take our collective voice and tell Congress to get behind our President and support the American Jobs Act. It might not be perfect, but I’m sure with it passed, we can get many Americans back to work. Which major company or brand is going to speak out and get everyone on board? Will Wikipedia and Reddit take another stand? Will Google step up to the plate and educate the American people on how if Congress works together we can get people back to work and our unemployment numbers down? I’m hoping some of these brands I use on a daily basis will take an interest it what I care about the way we took an interest in what they care about.

Here’s hoping that someone will take notice and take a stand. It’s getting lonely over here. Let me know if you have any ideas on how we can get big names to speak up for the people. Let’s get this country back on the road to the promised land. Let’s bring hope back to the people.