“Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice,” King Jnr
Somalilandsun – U.S. President Barack Obama remembered the power of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I have a dream” speech at a ceremony in Washington today, saying the “hunger of purpose” that motivated thousands of people to join the March on Washington 50 years ago lives on in this generation.
Civil rights leader King gave his famous speech at an event that drew over 250,000 people to Washington’s Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963. He envisioned a nation transformed into an oasis of justice, free from racial inequality.
“Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice,” said King — words that influenced the then-Kennedy administration to accelerate racial equality le
gislation.
Obama, the first black U.S. president, commented on the bravery of the people who came together for the march.
“They came by the thousands, from every corner of our country,” he said. “Men and women, young and old, blacks who longed for freedom and whites who could no longer accept freedom for themselves while witnessing the subjugation of others.”
Martin Luther King – I Have A Dream Speech – August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. – Biographical
