BROOKFIELD UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
I Still Have a Dream
by Gary Blanchard
January 19. 2020
Coming of age in the 1960’s, there were many people who inspired me, but there were three who had a profound impact on the person I would come to be. The first was a person who died three years before I was born. I learned of Mohandas Gandhi from a biography I read when I was ten years old. In Gandhi I found a person whose life embodied the values I was being taught at church. I was impressed by his commitment to non-violence, something that I felt was central to my faith at the time. A few years later I heard a man who was following the path of Gandhi to try to win freedom and equal rights for African Americans; this, of course, was Martin Luther King Jr. I remember hearing parts of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech when I was twelve, on August 28, 1963. A couple of years after that I came across an album by a folk singer that featured songs of the civil rights movement; that album was recorded live on June 8, 1963, a couple of months before King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I would learn to play most of the songs on that album and would perform them many places, including at rallies and school assemblies. The hymns in today’s service were songs I learned from the singing of Pete Seeger.
There were many lessons learned from these three men. I learned the lesson of love, the strength of numbers, the value of commitment, the need to follow the heart and conscience, the calling to speak out, the power of song, and the importance of hope. Today, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., I want to take time to celebrate his life and legacy.
The mid-to-late 1960s were interesting times. There were a lot of problems; the fight for civil rights for African Americans, the emerging women’s rights movement, the Stonewall riots that began the gay-rights movement, free speech fights, and the anti-war movement were all happening. Despite this, there was a sense of hope and optimism, a belief that, as Graham Nash stated in his song Chicago, we could change the world. The hippie movement, now remembered as being about sex, drugs, and rock and roll, at the time was centered on promoting peace, love, and brotherhood.
There were successes. Despite the murders of civil rights workers, police brutality, segregationist politicians, and grassroots opposition to equal rights, there were changes made that helped ease the plight of the oppressed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, first proposed by John F. Kennedy, then signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Through all of this, Martin Luther King Jr. was there to lead the call to action. Consider this excerpt from his 1965 “Our God is Marching On” speech:
“Once more the method of nonviolent resistance was unsheathed from its scabbard, and once again an entire community was mobilized to confront the adversary. And again the brutality of a dying order shrieks across the land. Yet, Selma, Alabama, became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it. There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.”
On April 4, 1967, King went on to not only advocate for civil rights, but to oppose the war in Vietnam. In that speech he stated: “This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation and for those it calls ‘enemy,’ for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.” King demonstrated that the fight for civil rights was, indeed, a fight for justice for all humanity.
Ten days later he gave another speech, known as “The Other America”. In the speech, King explained: “But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This is as true now as it was in 1967.
Yet, near the end of the speech, King still spoke of hope. “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward Justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right, ‘No lie can live forever.’ We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right, ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again.’ We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right, ‘Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne — Yet that scaffold sways the future.’ With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”
This was part of the power of Martin Luther King. There is no denying that he was a dynamic speaker, but his greatest asset was his hope that convinced him that humanity would, indeed, overcome some day.
On April 3, 1968, King gave another memorable speech. He ended it with these words: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!”
As you probably know, the next day an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Dr. King. Robert Kennedy, then running for president, gave a truly beautiful, impromptu speech as he shared the news with a crowd who had come for a political rally. Two months later he was also killed. In the midst of this it would be very easy to give up hope. I realized, however, that to give up hope was to waste the sacrifice that King made for the heart and soul of our country.
Years go by, and decades, go by, as they always do. We have seen victories and we have seen defeats. We saw the promise of our first African American president, then saw the rise of bitterness, hatred, and prejudice. In all of this it is easy to lose hope. But we cannot lose hope; to do so is to abandon the work of King and others.
Carol Mays, in her poem, Fantasies, presents a vision of a future that not only could come, but must come. We will hear melodies rise with the sun and stars. We will see sparkling-haired children in yellow silk, sprinkled with sun rays, dance on a hill. And we will see women in glowing robes walk near streams of snow, landing as natural lace.
I still have a dream. I still believe in the power of love to overcome hatred. I still have a dream that that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’ " I still have a dream that “one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
John Lennon, in his song Imagine, states, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one.” I call you to join me in this dream. I urge you to share that dream, and to live that dream. If we fail to dream, we give up hope, and will not take action. If we work together, the dream can come alive.
As we prepare to once again celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., let us remember the power of his words and the power of his actions. Let us say, “I have a dream today” Let us all be able to say, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Free of hatred, free of violence, free of anger, and free of fear. Free at last.
Amen and Blessed Be.
by Gary Blanchard
January 19. 2020
Coming of age in the 1960’s, there were many people who inspired me, but there were three who had a profound impact on the person I would come to be. The first was a person who died three years before I was born. I learned of Mohandas Gandhi from a biography I read when I was ten years old. In Gandhi I found a person whose life embodied the values I was being taught at church. I was impressed by his commitment to non-violence, something that I felt was central to my faith at the time. A few years later I heard a man who was following the path of Gandhi to try to win freedom and equal rights for African Americans; this, of course, was Martin Luther King Jr. I remember hearing parts of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech when I was twelve, on August 28, 1963. A couple of years after that I came across an album by a folk singer that featured songs of the civil rights movement; that album was recorded live on June 8, 1963, a couple of months before King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I would learn to play most of the songs on that album and would perform them many places, including at rallies and school assemblies. The hymns in today’s service were songs I learned from the singing of Pete Seeger.
There were many lessons learned from these three men. I learned the lesson of love, the strength of numbers, the value of commitment, the need to follow the heart and conscience, the calling to speak out, the power of song, and the importance of hope. Today, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., I want to take time to celebrate his life and legacy.
The mid-to-late 1960s were interesting times. There were a lot of problems; the fight for civil rights for African Americans, the emerging women’s rights movement, the Stonewall riots that began the gay-rights movement, free speech fights, and the anti-war movement were all happening. Despite this, there was a sense of hope and optimism, a belief that, as Graham Nash stated in his song Chicago, we could change the world. The hippie movement, now remembered as being about sex, drugs, and rock and roll, at the time was centered on promoting peace, love, and brotherhood.
There were successes. Despite the murders of civil rights workers, police brutality, segregationist politicians, and grassroots opposition to equal rights, there were changes made that helped ease the plight of the oppressed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, first proposed by John F. Kennedy, then signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Through all of this, Martin Luther King Jr. was there to lead the call to action. Consider this excerpt from his 1965 “Our God is Marching On” speech:
“Once more the method of nonviolent resistance was unsheathed from its scabbard, and once again an entire community was mobilized to confront the adversary. And again the brutality of a dying order shrieks across the land. Yet, Selma, Alabama, became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it. There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.”
On April 4, 1967, King went on to not only advocate for civil rights, but to oppose the war in Vietnam. In that speech he stated: “This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation and for those it calls ‘enemy,’ for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.” King demonstrated that the fight for civil rights was, indeed, a fight for justice for all humanity.
Ten days later he gave another speech, known as “The Other America”. In the speech, King explained: “But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebulliency of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” This is as true now as it was in 1967.
Yet, near the end of the speech, King still spoke of hope. “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward Justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right, ‘No lie can live forever.’ We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right, ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again.’ We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right, ‘Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne — Yet that scaffold sways the future.’ With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”
This was part of the power of Martin Luther King. There is no denying that he was a dynamic speaker, but his greatest asset was his hope that convinced him that humanity would, indeed, overcome some day.
On April 3, 1968, King gave another memorable speech. He ended it with these words: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!”
As you probably know, the next day an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Dr. King. Robert Kennedy, then running for president, gave a truly beautiful, impromptu speech as he shared the news with a crowd who had come for a political rally. Two months later he was also killed. In the midst of this it would be very easy to give up hope. I realized, however, that to give up hope was to waste the sacrifice that King made for the heart and soul of our country.
Years go by, and decades, go by, as they always do. We have seen victories and we have seen defeats. We saw the promise of our first African American president, then saw the rise of bitterness, hatred, and prejudice. In all of this it is easy to lose hope. But we cannot lose hope; to do so is to abandon the work of King and others.
Carol Mays, in her poem, Fantasies, presents a vision of a future that not only could come, but must come. We will hear melodies rise with the sun and stars. We will see sparkling-haired children in yellow silk, sprinkled with sun rays, dance on a hill. And we will see women in glowing robes walk near streams of snow, landing as natural lace.
I still have a dream. I still believe in the power of love to overcome hatred. I still have a dream that that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.’ " I still have a dream that “one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
John Lennon, in his song Imagine, states, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one.” I call you to join me in this dream. I urge you to share that dream, and to live that dream. If we fail to dream, we give up hope, and will not take action. If we work together, the dream can come alive.
As we prepare to once again celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., let us remember the power of his words and the power of his actions. Let us say, “I have a dream today” Let us all be able to say, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" Free of hatred, free of violence, free of anger, and free of fear. Free at last.
Amen and Blessed Be.
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