Jackson Asks Americans to Fulfill King’s Dream
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Sunday urged Americans to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the first national holiday marking his birth by showing that the slain civil rights leader’s “dream” was a “concrete reality.”
Speaking at the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, Jackson said that King’s “I have a dream” speech about racial equality has been used to depict the slain civil rights leader as unrealistic. He urged Americans to spend the holiday demonstrating that the dream was a reality.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not assassinated for dreaming,” Jackson told the congregation of about 2,000 people. “He was assassinated for acting and challenging the government. The only way to honor him is (to) make his memory a continuing concrete reality and be driven by his spirit.”
Jackson said he planned to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 20, the way King had spent his last birthday months before he was assassinated, by organizing a demonstration in Washington.
He said that King “celebrated his own birthday by praying and planning to fight for justice, feed the hungry and empower the poor.” Jackson was among the group that met with King on Jan. 15, 1968, to plan the Poor People’s Campaign march to Washington.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn.
Church services and concerts were held across the nation Sunday to open the week of celebrations.
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