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COMMENTARY: I Have a Dream? MLK Jr. Said We’re Owed a Check, Too.

I wasn’t at the 60th commemoration of the March on Washington. But I was at the 50th in 2013, right up front staring Al Sharpton and John Lewis in the face. I recall a great feeling of joy in the air. After 50 years, there was a sense of immense progress, chief among them a second term with an African American president from Hawaii. But whatever joy we felt was definitely short-lived. Three years later, America got Trump, the embodiment of the great reversal, a return to the politics of our racial past, where whites always seemed to win. It unfortunately means MLK’s speech has more of the ring of truth than it ever has.

Published

1 year ago

October 4, 2023

Oakland Post

Photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from the People's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Wikimedia Commons)

By Emil Guillermo

“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” begins Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream Speech,” delivered 60 years (three score years ago) in Washington, DC this week.

More people know the end of the speech. But the other parts? The beginning? It actually starts with the image of Abraham Lincoln, a great president, freeing the slaves.

All these years later, it’s hard to imagine MLK could have dreamed up in his worst nightmare the situation the U.S. is in today politically.

In the race for president in the Republican Party, there are eight people running against one man who could be criminally convicted.

Four times.

It’s the criminally indicted former president, the notorious DJT, the only president living or dead with a mug shot.

Is he Public Enemy No.1? No, the former 45th president of the United States is just inmate P01135809.

No man is above the law, or above a mug shot. And Trump deserves it. This is the same guy we all heard on tape asking the Georgia secretary of state to find 11,780 votes. To steal an election? Let a jury decide.

Georgia is prosecuting Trump for his actions in an alleged criminal enterprise conducted with 18 others in an attempt to subvert democracy.

In the meantime, he still wants to be president again. And it’s no contest. A majority of morally bankrupt Republicans are still willing to give Trump a pass for alleged high crimes against democracy, simply because they think he can win the 2024 election.

And winning trumps ethics, morality and even justice in the U.S. today.

It’s the reason we must keep on dreaming.

But whatever joy we felt was definitely short-lived. Three years later, America got Trump, the embodiment of the great reversal, a return to the politics of our racial past, where whites always seemed to win.

It unfortunately means MLK’s speech has more of the ring of truth than it ever has.

Because the central metaphor isn’t the dream. It’s a check we’ve been given that we’re still waiting to cash.

“One hundred years later, the Negro still is not free,” King said in 1963, referring to President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.

“One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.

“One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

“And so, we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.”

King continued: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

“But 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.”

The dream metaphor has stayed with us the last 60 years. But upon re-reading, the bank/check metaphor is more relevant today. It certainly connects to our real lives. Dreaming works too. But when you vote, you think about the economy, and your pocketbook.

Not whether you got enough REM sleep to keep dreaming.

You think of the price of gas. Your ability to pay the rent. Put food on the table.

For me, it’s the living metaphor from that same speech 60 years ago that has more urgency than the dream.

We still have a check in hand. And we are standing in line waiting for it to clear.

And we better get paid before a certain ex-president with the mugshot.

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. Get tickets to his one man show streamed live from New York. “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host: A Phool’s American Filipino History” runs Sept. 6 and 14. Get tickets here:

https://www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:499/

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

Published

1 day ago

December 20, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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‘Donald Trump Is Not a God:’ Rep. Bennie Thompson Blasts Trump’s Call to Jail Him

“Donald Trump is not a god,” U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

Published

4 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he not intimidated by President-elect Donald Trump, who, during an interview on “Meet the Press,” called for the congressman to be jailed for his role as chairman of the special congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Donald Trump is not a god,” Thompson told The Grio during a recent interview, reacting to Trump’s unsupported claims that the congressman, along with other committee members like vice chair and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, destroyed evidence throughout the investigation.

“He can’t prove it, nor has there been any other proof offered, which tells me that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” said the 76-year-old lawmaker, who maintained that he and the bipartisan Jan. 6 Select Committee – which referred Trump for criminal prosecution – were exercising their constitutional and legislative duties.

“When someone disagrees with you, that doesn’t make it illegal; that doesn’t even make it wrong,” Thompson said, “The greatness of this country is that everyone can have their own opinion about any subject, and so for an incoming president who disagrees with the work of Congress to say ‘because I disagree, I want them jailed,’ is absolutely unbelievable.”

When asked by The Grio if he is concerned about his physical safety amid continued public ridicule from Trump, whose supporters have already proven to be violent, Thompson said, “I think every member of Congress here has to have some degree of concern, because you just never know.”

This story is based on a report from The Grio.

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City of Oakland Celebrates Reopening of Main Library

“Libraries are such critical facilities for all Oaklanders, whether it’s children coming to story-time, adults reading the newspapers or borrowing the latest novels, and people engaging with a range of services and programs that the library hosts,” said Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas. “Such library services and programs are only possible when the facility’s electricity, heating, roof, and lighting are fixed and running efficiently. I’m proud to join this re-opening of our Main Public Library.”

Published

4 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Left to Right- Jamie Turbak, Director of Library Services, LaTonda Simmons, Assistant City Administrator, Nikki Bas, President Oakland City Council, Shen Thao, Mayor of Oakland, Carroll Fife, Oakland City Councilmember District 3, Harold Duffey, Assistant City Administrator, Sean Maher, Projects Coordinator. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

The branch had been closed since May for critical infrastructure upgrades

Special to the Post

The City of Oakland leadership and community partners gathered to celebrate the reopening of the Main Library after completion of critical infrastructure upgrades to enhance the library’s facilities and provide a better experience for patrons.

Renovations include new roof installation, skylight repair, critical electrical system upgrades, new boiler control system installation, auditorium heating and cooling system installation, and improvements to lighting, flooring and ceilings throughout the building.

“This is truly something to celebrate, the reopening of our wonderful Main Library! I congratulate the staff and our partners for this important project to make the Main Library a more comfortable place for everyone for years to come, said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. “Thank you to Oakland voters and the California State Library for making these crucial improvements possible.”

“Public libraries are a wonderful resource for our residents, offering a safe space for learning and being,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. “It is critical to improve and modernize our libraries so more members of our community can utilize and enjoy them. I’m excited that the necessary renovations to the Main Library have been completed successfully and thank everyone involved, particularly the City team, who helped secured the necessary grant funds for this work.”

“I am proud of the City staff and project partners who kept this important project on schedule and under budget,” said Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey. “The library is an incredibly important resource for our community members, and this project is an investment into the library’s future.”

“December 2nd was a momentous occasion for Oakland Public Library as we proudly reopened the doors of the Main Library following extensive infrastructure repairs,” said Director of Library Services Jamie Turbak. “Closing the Main Library for six months was no easy decision, as it serves as the central hub for our library system and is truly the heart of Oakland. Yet, this renovation was essential, representing more than just physical upgrades—it reflects our ongoing commitment to creating a safe, welcoming space for everyone.”

The City Administrator Jestin Johnson also attended the press conference and signalled his support for the completion of the record-setting completion of the renovations. Gay Plair Cobb, a newly appointed Library Commissioner said the Library represents the soul and brains of our community.

The Oakland Public Library secured funding for these crititcal repairs through a variety of sources. The California State Library’s Building Forward Library Facilities Improvement Program awarded the Main Branch $4.2 million. To comply with the grant terms, the City of Oakland provided matching funds through Measures KK, as approved by the Oakland City Council in October 2023.

The Main Library will host an Open House to celebrate the reopening on February 22, 2025, 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

About the Oakland Public Library

The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. Locations include 16 neighborhood branches, a Main Library, a Second Start Adult Literacy Program, the Oakland Tool Lending Library, and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO). The Oakland Public Library empowers all people to explore, connect, and grow. Oaklandlibrary.org