“Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter but beautiful struggle for a new world. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in a speech on 4 April 1967 at Riverside Church, New York City, exactly one year to the day before his assassination.
Today we celebrate the life and work of one of the greatest of all Americans – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is important, therefore, to reflect not just on how far we have come but also how much further we still have to go in order to realize the beautiful dream he had for us.
With Trump exiting stage right, and two Democratic Senators joining Congress from Georgia, it is tempting to believe that we are moving in the correct direction. Indeed, one of our new Senators is Dr. Raphael Warnock – Senior Reverend at the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Dr. King served as co-Pastor over 50 years ago.
Certainly there is good reason for hope. The Black Lives Matter movement has awakened many to the racism that permeates our society. Also, Bernie Sanders’ success in mobilizing tens of millions to vote for an unabashed champion of true economic justice proves there is a hunger for better than the dominant neoliberal agenda that has impoverished so many over the past 50 years.
But we cannot relax and Dr. King would not allow us to. In order to make real the world Dr. King dreamed of, we must continue to organize for racial justice, Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and peace.
At Our Revolution Maryland, we commit to doing just that this year and in the years to come. We hope you will join us in the ongoing struggle.