April 3, 1968, near the end of his speech--sermon, really--in Memphis to clergy and community leaders supporting a sanitation workers' strike, Dr. King said these irony-filled words about the goals of the non-violent civil rights movement. I have added emphasis to the first two sentences:

"Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We've got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school -- be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together."

April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assasinated on a Memphis motel balcony. And for a while, our country burned. With rage, with pain, with hatred. None of which Dr. King would have wanted.

We've come so far since those years. Dr. King would have been so proud of our progress up the road to the mountaintop. 

Post: Getting to the Mountaintop.

August 28, 2008 I wrote about that speech on the night Senator Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party's nomination as its candidate for President of the United States.

That nomination--and that speech--had meaning to me from my past. During a time I learned so much from those who had been there with Dr. King, not just in Memphis, but afterwards, in their hearts as they struggled to carry out his dream. The dream of millions.

I want more people to read that post. To listen to Dr. King's sermon in its entirety.

We all have so much to learn for his wisdom and his words. We owe him an enormous debt of honor and gratitude.

Rest in Peace, Dr. King. We have not stopped reaching for your dream.