When Will Freedom Come: Remembering the 1963 March on Washington and Civil Rights Foot Soldiers As Dreamers!
Beautiful People,
There is perhaps no greater gift to society than the Dreamer. For it is the Dreamer who believes that Good Change Is Possible.
It is the Dreamer that looks upon a society's inequities and desires a better life for themselves, their families, their neighbors and their Nation.
It is the Dreamer, who having awakened to the Truth that ALL people are created Equal asks How Will Freedom Come?
On August 28th in 1963, A. Phillip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Mahalia Jackson, John Lewis, Peter, Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Julian Bond, Odetta, Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Joan Baez, Paul Newman, Harry Belafonte, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Andrew Young, Marian Anderson, Sammy Davis Jr., Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Malcolm X, Dick Gregory, Diahann Carroll, Burt Lancaster, Dr. Benjamin Mays, Roy Wilkins, Dorothy Height, Whitney Young, and Andrew Goodman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Clarence B. Jones, (who was MLK's personal lawyer and the draft speech writer for the "I Have A Dream" speech).
They were all in attendance with 250 thousand Dreamers from across America who gathered in Our Nation's Capitol to rally for jobs, the right to vote, desegregation and equality.
Some of these Dreamers had been working in their communities, cities and states for many generations to bring about Good Change.
They knew that just attending the March on Washington was an act of rebellion but more importantly, it was an Act of Faith that could bring Change and Hope for their Children.
They were people of all nationalities, religious beliefs and colors. They were clergy, union members, mechanics, postal workers, railroad workers, pullman porters, butlers, maids, police officers, doctors nurses, educators, college students and people from every occupation imaginable.
There were grandparents and mothers and fathers who brought their children. All believed that this country could only live its greatness when Equality and Equal Opportunity became the Law of the Land.
It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who spoke and articulated the Dream that had been swelling in the hearts of many for generations and generations.
We know these 250,000 Dreamers as the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers. Though we may not know their names, today Fifty Years later, we honor the Civil Rights Foot Soldiers their lives, their hopes and their Dreams.
And Fifty Years later, the message of equality, equity, education, fair employment, Hope and Love continues to deserve our attention; for the work of the Dreamers and Civil Rights Foot Soldiers is Far From Complete.
Freedom Will Come only when we are willing to put down our guns, open our hearts and listen deeply to Truth.
Freedom Will Come only when we Rise Up Together and decide to fix the broken Political, Economic, Educational and Social Systems of Inequity.
But Freedom Will Come!
As we remember The Civil Rights Foot Soldiers, in Our Hearts, we must continue to walk across the Nation with Hope and Strong Resolve.
Then we will hear and sing the songs that mourn the loss of Every Child of Violence and War and Racism and Poverty. We will call for Peace and sing of Love.
Freedom Will Come when we truly Desire Equity, Education and Prosperity For ALL.
Freedom Will Come when we willingly sit at the table together in Gratitude and share our dreams, our food, our homes, our education and our wealth.
Freedom Will Come only when we once again notice that Trees bend in reverence as Spring, Summer and Autumn Leaves dance joyfully and teach Our Children that All Humans deserve to be cared for and Loved!
Freedom Will Come as we Re-Member that for All Our Children we must offer Hope for their Dreams and be willing to share Our Love.
Breathe Deeply In Hope. Out Love. Again Breathe. In Hope. Out Love.
How will you honor the Dreamer Civil Rights Foot Soldiers? Do you remember the Dream?
What will you do today and tomorrow?
How will Freedom come with Love and decide to Live in Our Hearts and Our Nation?
First Breathe. In Hope. Out Love!
We Must Once Again Commit to Gather In Our Communities, Cities and States Across Our Nation.
Remembering that ALL Are Created Equally, let us sit at the table together in Gratitude and share our Dreams, our food, our homes, our education and our wealth.
It is then for the Dreamer, that Freedom Will Come!
Always, Melony 💖
(c) Rev. Melony McGant, 2013
Written Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The March On Washington
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