The Fierce Urgency of Now

"We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice."

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I Have a Dream"

August 28, 1963

Have you listened to Martin Luther King deliver his speech? I know you've heard excerpts, but I hope you will listen to it in its entirety at American Rhetoric. (You can read the speech there, too, but you need to listen to MLK deliver the stirring words.) It is brilliantly constructed and delivered with such bravery and skill. Every time I listen to it, I feel inspired and I learn something new. I often feel angry that he was taken from me - from all of us - by hateful and selfish agents but then, he reminds me not to drink from the "cup of bitterness and hatred." Instead, I'll focus today on his dream for the future.