RubySoho
Winston
“Free At Last, Free At Last. Thank God Almighty, We Are Free At Last”
November 9th 2008 23:46
August 28 1968, and on the hallowed steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, a young black preacher from the deep south state of Georgia makes one of the most famous speeches in history. 45 years later to the day a young black Senator from the state of Illinois becomes the first African American to accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. The rest, as they say, is history.
Barrack Hussein Obama was just two years old when Martin Luther King made his unbearably moving ‘I have a dream’ speech where he called for the emancipation and equality of all African Americans, “from the hilltops of New Hampshire to the curvaceous peaks of California”. Much of the United States was still gripped by the scourge of segregation. Many blacks were denied the right to cast a vote. Lynchings, beatings and hangings were not a rare occurrence. The inequality ran deep and the hatred ran even deeper. But the desire for freedom was strong and the civil rights movement was beginning to take root. And that young, black preacher stood on the steps of the monument honouring the abolitionist president and demanded that his work be continued, that America finally “stand up and live out the true meaning of its creed: That all men are created equal”.
How could King and his many followers, including the young Reverend Jesse Jackson possibly foresee that a young black boy, already born but far too young to comprehend the magnitude of their efforts, would one day benefit from the fruits of their labour to the extent that he would be elected, with a resounding electoral college majority, to the nation’s top job? They couldn’t. For change only seems impossible just before it happens. And when it does, we wonder why it took so long.
Only the incredibly naïve could think that the election of Obama spells the end of racism and inequality in America. His election is not indicative that America has changed but that the people, at least the majority, are ready for change. The real change is yet to come. The pressure on Obama is immense. The entire world, it seems, is expecting him to improve their lives, from the poor villagers in his father’s birthplace of Kenya, to the war ravaged population of the Middle East. And of course, he is inheriting a domestic economy that is in a shambles and succeeding an administration that will surely go down in history as one of (if not the) most corrupt and incompetent in history. We have to wait and see how he handles this pressure but undoubtedly he will both thrill and disappoint.
Obama has not mentioned King by name in any of his major speeches. But surely King must have been on his mind and the mind of so many others that night he made his victory speech in Chicago. I could see it in the tear stained face of Jesse Jackson as he stood, just another face in the crowd, red-eyed and weeping, probably in equal parts joy and disbelief that such a thing was possible. In 45 years, he has seen America transition from images such as this:
And this:
And this:
To this:
And this:
And this:
The most poignant part of King’s speech for me is the last paragraph where he cries out, “When we let freedom ring, whem we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, We are free at last!"
These lines recall that famous quote by an unknown author, “No one is free when others are oppressed” and that still rings true, even as the world in general, and African Americans in particular still celebrate this occasion. The real work beings now, not just for Obama and America but for all of us. For how can the people of Israel be free when the Palestinians are still languishing in the Occupied Territories? How can the men of Saudi Arabia be free when the women are still being denied the right to drive a car? How can the people of Australia be free when its Indigenous population still has a mortality rate three times higher than that of the general population? How can the men of Central America be free when women are denied their reproductive rights to the extent that they are forced to continue with pregnancies that will, and do, kill them? How can the people of California be free when their Constitution is being re-written for the express purpose of discriminating against gays? And how can the people of New York be free when some black people are still now, even as the election of a black man is possible, that still now are being denied the right to vote?
But Obama’s election is a positive sign and it is hard not to get sentimental on this occasion. Watching the faces of that crowd in Chicago, black and white, young and old, I could see the hope in their faces and the desire for a better world that maybe, just maybe is now possible. Not because Obama will make it possible, but because they defied the critics and the detractors and they proved the them wrong when they said that “America is not ready for a President named Barack Hussein Obama"(nuts to you Anne Coulter).
As an atheist I can't say that I believe that Martin Luther King is privy to the fruits of his legacy but I take immense joy in the fact that his legacy does indeed live on. It has led to the election of Obama but by no means is this election the culmination of King's life work. Obama is just one more step in the right direction. We are not yet “free at last”. Martin Luther King’s dream is not fully realised and truthfully, I doubt it ever will be, but at least we are moving forward. The Bush administration may have hindered it for the last eight years, but even they couldn't stop progress.
Here is King's full speech. If this speech does not send a shiver up your spine, if it does not bring a tear to your eye and a lump to your throat, then I don't see how you can be a human. Please take the 11 minutes to watch it in full.
Jesse Jackson cries as Obama declared President-elect.
Barrack Hussein Obama was just two years old when Martin Luther King made his unbearably moving ‘I have a dream’ speech where he called for the emancipation and equality of all African Americans, “from the hilltops of New Hampshire to the curvaceous peaks of California”. Much of the United States was still gripped by the scourge of segregation. Many blacks were denied the right to cast a vote. Lynchings, beatings and hangings were not a rare occurrence. The inequality ran deep and the hatred ran even deeper. But the desire for freedom was strong and the civil rights movement was beginning to take root. And that young, black preacher stood on the steps of the monument honouring the abolitionist president and demanded that his work be continued, that America finally “stand up and live out the true meaning of its creed: That all men are created equal”.
How could King and his many followers, including the young Reverend Jesse Jackson possibly foresee that a young black boy, already born but far too young to comprehend the magnitude of their efforts, would one day benefit from the fruits of their labour to the extent that he would be elected, with a resounding electoral college majority, to the nation’s top job? They couldn’t. For change only seems impossible just before it happens. And when it does, we wonder why it took so long.
Only the incredibly naïve could think that the election of Obama spells the end of racism and inequality in America. His election is not indicative that America has changed but that the people, at least the majority, are ready for change. The real change is yet to come. The pressure on Obama is immense. The entire world, it seems, is expecting him to improve their lives, from the poor villagers in his father’s birthplace of Kenya, to the war ravaged population of the Middle East. And of course, he is inheriting a domestic economy that is in a shambles and succeeding an administration that will surely go down in history as one of (if not the) most corrupt and incompetent in history. We have to wait and see how he handles this pressure but undoubtedly he will both thrill and disappoint.
Obama has not mentioned King by name in any of his major speeches. But surely King must have been on his mind and the mind of so many others that night he made his victory speech in Chicago. I could see it in the tear stained face of Jesse Jackson as he stood, just another face in the crowd, red-eyed and weeping, probably in equal parts joy and disbelief that such a thing was possible. In 45 years, he has seen America transition from images such as this:
And this:
And this:
To this:
And this:
And this:
The most poignant part of King’s speech for me is the last paragraph where he cries out, “When we let freedom ring, whem we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, We are free at last!"
These lines recall that famous quote by an unknown author, “No one is free when others are oppressed” and that still rings true, even as the world in general, and African Americans in particular still celebrate this occasion. The real work beings now, not just for Obama and America but for all of us. For how can the people of Israel be free when the Palestinians are still languishing in the Occupied Territories? How can the men of Saudi Arabia be free when the women are still being denied the right to drive a car? How can the people of Australia be free when its Indigenous population still has a mortality rate three times higher than that of the general population? How can the men of Central America be free when women are denied their reproductive rights to the extent that they are forced to continue with pregnancies that will, and do, kill them? How can the people of California be free when their Constitution is being re-written for the express purpose of discriminating against gays? And how can the people of New York be free when some black people are still now, even as the election of a black man is possible, that still now are being denied the right to vote?
But Obama’s election is a positive sign and it is hard not to get sentimental on this occasion. Watching the faces of that crowd in Chicago, black and white, young and old, I could see the hope in their faces and the desire for a better world that maybe, just maybe is now possible. Not because Obama will make it possible, but because they defied the critics and the detractors and they proved the them wrong when they said that “America is not ready for a President named Barack Hussein Obama"(nuts to you Anne Coulter).
As an atheist I can't say that I believe that Martin Luther King is privy to the fruits of his legacy but I take immense joy in the fact that his legacy does indeed live on. It has led to the election of Obama but by no means is this election the culmination of King's life work. Obama is just one more step in the right direction. We are not yet “free at last”. Martin Luther King’s dream is not fully realised and truthfully, I doubt it ever will be, but at least we are moving forward. The Bush administration may have hindered it for the last eight years, but even they couldn't stop progress.
Here is King's full speech. If this speech does not send a shiver up your spine, if it does not bring a tear to your eye and a lump to your throat, then I don't see how you can be a human. Please take the 11 minutes to watch it in full.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
i really like the work you have put into this post . . . those pictures really do speak for themselves but i love the history and context you have given them
How can the people of California be free when their Constitution is being re-written for the express purpose of discriminating against gays?
this is a great example and a great quote
why people get so much joy out of marginalising minorities and the weak i will never know
thanks for the interesting read!
Comment by Mister Smith
Random Ramblings
FILMENATOR
Crime in Books
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I was a bit of a soppy wuss and cried when I was doing the research. The scale of the injustice was breathtaking and I cam across some pictures that were way to horrifying to put on here. But ultimately I think this is a happy occasion. I think I have said this before but up until he was actually elected I didn't think too much about Obama's race. Oh I knew how momentous a victory would be but I didn't really feel it until it happened. And now it just blows me away.
And yes, I don't know why people seem to go out of their way to make other people miserable. I was just reading that most of the donations for the Prop 8 campaign in California came from out of State. The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints (Mormon Church) and the Catholic Church were some of the biggest donors. I find it so sad that on the day Obama gets elected, California takes a massive step backward. I also find it sad that so many African Americans voted for Proposition 8 themselves. I guess I am naive and I think that people who know what discrimination feels like would be less likely to discriminate against others.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
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Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
How interesting things have become... a country that was defaced by the ugly taint of slavery, could eventually vote a half-Black, half-White president. As Jon Stewart noted, it finally shows that America can do what it preaches, not just talk about it.
The Civil Rights movement was a powerful time... a while ago I wrote this post on the Jena 6, but I'm not sure what the real story behind that was...
In the post, I remarked how touched I was by a song, written during the movement, by Billy Taylor; but it's the version by Nina Simone that made me cry.
I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel To Be Free
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
Well documented and there can be no doubt that it is a great step for mankind, generally.
However, I am wary of the phrase *free* because within the monetary system, that we are not any one of us. Obama suited the social engineers of the day. What you are all propbably free from is internal rioting and more murders; things that cost governments more than lives ~ something that is not of great concern to either governments over profits?
That is surely the blessing of the week though, no doubts ...congratulations to you all over there, you can breathe easier for sure.
Lilla ...
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by justmesuzanne
Excellent article.
Thank you!
Suzanne
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Thanks for those links, I'm having trouble trouble playing some youtube clips at the moment so I'll have to come back to Nina Simone, but the title alone says so much. The Jena 6 seems like a complicated situation. I don't know that they should get off scott free if they did beat the boy but the initial punishments did not seem to fit the crime. And it's amazing that even now, when whites commit hate crimes against blacks they seem to get away with it.
Hi Lilla,
Oh I don't think any of us are really free. The title is simply a direct quote from MLK which I used inorder to highlight his ideals and show what it is he and other people are working towards. Freedom is the ultimate goal of all progressive movements. But progress is not a destination, it's a journey. Will the entire world ever really be free? I doubt it, but that does not mean we should give up the fight. Nor does it mean that we shouldn't take pride and joy when we do manage to accomplish something as big as this (not that I did anything personally, but you get my drift). Oh and I would be the last person to thank "God" for anything!
Hi Suzanne,
That must have been a great experience. How did the speaker do? I don't think I would ever be game enough to even attempt to read that speech out loud. Talk about big shoes to fill....oh and you're welcome!
Thanks for the comments everyone. It makes all the work worthwhile...
Comment by justmesuzanne
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
It's such a relief.
Michaelie
Comment by Undercover Brother
What the fuck does an Australian white woman know about this?
You love to constantly piss people off don't you?