March On Washington 50th Anniversary: How Much Has Black Life Changed Since 1963?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...phic_n_3794682.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

 

great article stink:smt023

 

Yes,things had changed in the past 50 years. Saw that CNN special on the March on Washington and I had seen photos of young Black males with young White females helping out. Must had been unpubished since that would had inflamed those Southern racists back then.

 

The real heroes of the March On Washington were those African Americans who went there. About 300.000 people marched on Washington. And the move was a risky one. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was #16 in the speaking lineup. There were others who spoke that day. This day was a call for African Americans to get involved in American society as well as for white people to understand that the struggle of black people is a global struggle. King was despised well before the March and the very poetically lyrical I Have A Dream Speech. He was despised even among baptist ministers when he suggested that they get involved in this movement. J. Edgar Hoover's F.B.I. had spied on him for years until his death. President John F. Kennedy was a little concerned because he did not do enough on this. But, Lyndon B. Johnson, giving a speech at Gettysburg, said that he, a man who was known to associate with the segregationists and others,that he had the black community's back. He would then say that he had just given the South to the Republicans for the next 30 years. And the South was getting hotter with the bombings in Birmingham, Alabama. When people today say the word revolution, or militant it is often associated with violence. Back then, those words meant a peaceful unified front. It was airing a grievance. On that day, the whole country saw it all on television. Today, I think Martin Luther King, if he were still alive today, would be sorely disappointed with this country. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is still one of the most revered men in this country.

 

So I found out a wonderful tidbit I heard on the radio last night...

That as King was giving his speech, his favorite singer Mahalia Jackson was in the front, and she kept saying to him.. "Tell them about the Dream, Martin, tell them about the dream...!"

Martin then pushed aside his written speech, and the orator reciting this who was right there remembers thinking "Ok now, these people here don't know it yet, but Martin is about to go Church on them!"
Martin then proceeded with his unscripted, impromtu 'I have a Dream" speech.

Also, that once the people close to Martin knew/heard/saw how powerful it resonated, they quickly formed to get it copyrighted, which is valid I think until 2038, something like that. *sigh* What a story. :smt055

 

I've read the organizers would not let Cong Adam Clayton Powell Jr. speak either.

 

more black women got to speak this time. more gays as well. so it was more inclusive. the only negative was it was too easy on obama.

 

how many of you went this year? the reason I ask is that 50 years ago black people took 9 hour bus rides to get there...some of you live very close to DC...so did you feel this was important enough to go? if not, why?

 

Lippy, I live in Virginia. I was close enough to go to the event, but decided not to attend. I saw the event on C-Span instead. I probably would have made the trip by taking my young son and wife. Truth of the matter, there is no bold leadership anymore with a challenge of vision for the future.

 

What is "bold leadership" to you? And why are you relying on others to bring about this "bold leadership" rather than stepping up yourself and providing an example of this leadership you think black people in America lack?

 

Nice.

 

The black family has been broken and black crime and black on black crime specifically has spiked due to the destruction of the black family unit. Our race (African Americans)is failing in my opinion and we are in heavy denial about it. That is how things have changed for us. I won't blame hip-hop or hood-rich mentalities but that is part of the problem. Black people need to get our shit together post haste or there won't be black people in a couple hundred years. Most sistas I know are straight up nuts and I have given up on them.

 

And how do we get our shit together? Plenty of people both black & non black alike seem to be saying this, but no one is offering any actual solutions, especially from the very black people who do nothing but keep saying we need to get our shit together.

 

No one has a solution that can work. Everyone has suggestions, wishes and ideas. Even Maya Angelou had stated that it is time to walk alone and go your own way. One can only lead by example when confronted with the difficulties facing the Black Community.

 

Stop producing children out of wedlock.
Stop killing each other.
Stop thinking that a monthly slice of government cheese is a good thing.
Stop eating bullshit junk food and run those places out of our communities.
Stop blaming whitey for out problems and start valuing education.
Stop glorifying bling/hoodrich culture because it sets a bad example for children and will not help our peoples obtain gainful employment.
Stop supporting the exploitation of black culture financially and socially.

I could go on but that list would be a great start.

 

And how do we as black people go about implementing this list of things to do since someone has pointed out we don't have "bold leadership" or "vision"which is also why we as a people are failing?

 

excellent point. A lot of these guys, all they can do is "complain"

irony of ironies

 

Stop killing each other? Why... that's brilliant! Quick - get this guy over to the mideast, I bet they'd love to hear this brilliant idea. I would've never thought of that :mrgreen:

And how did you know that me and all my relatives and associates (and presumably yours) think government cheese is a slice of heaven? Brilliant I say

And stop blaming whitey? Hahahahaha Dude, you must be a white man to be that out of touch with what black people talk about

 

How does that work? Pls walk us through it.