Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech continues to inspire 60 years later
BOSTON - On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Sixty years later, it continues to inspire.
"Dr. King preached here, right at this very pulpit, Dr. King preached," said Dr. Willie Bodrick II, the pastor of 12th Baptist Church in Boston. Like King, he too grew up in Atlanta, came to school here in Boston and now preaches behind the same pulpit Dr. King used back in the mid-60s.
"To have that history and to stand in the very places where someone who was an American giant and who changed this nation still is such an honor," said Bodrick.
When asked why King had such a deep love for Boston, Bodrick said, "The King that we know didn't just arrive, he went through a journey, he went through a progress. He was being shaped and molded in the shadows of Boston to help him understand the moment he was living in. The first time that Coretta Scott ever heard Martin Luther King preach was right here in 12th Baptist Church. And they partnered in the work in bringing about civil rights to our country."
Bodrick was also asked how Dr. King inspired him the most. "He says that there's a fierce urgency of now and they came to actually make their voices known and be heard. It was an interracial coalition of folks who came and marched on Washington. The reasons they were there are some of the same issues that we are fighting today. When we're talking about the wealth gap, they were talking about jobs and opportunities, they were talking about voting rights."
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Dr. King's leadership and what his speech stood for has inspired him to launch a Stand Up to Hate campaign, which began this year.
"Martin Luther King had his dream and it behooves all of us to work hard to let that dream come true and stay alive," said Kraft.
Kraft now speaks around the world against racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hate.
"I'm very worried about the country right now," said Kraft when he spoke at the 114th NAACP Convention in Boston earlier in August. He was joined by NAACP President Derrick Johnson, Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and rapper Meek Mill.
Kraft was asked how King inspired him. "There are things going on in the country that are not good signals. And so people like myself, in a small way, have to remember Martin Luther King and what he stood for. I don't know what it's like to walk into a room with Black skin, but I do know I've had discrimination and bigotry targeted to me just because of the religion I was born into. Just like Martin Luther King said in his speech, hand in hand or arm in arm, brothers and sisters all pushing back against hate and discrimination of any kind."
"The dream lives on," said Bodrick. "Hopefully, the dream becomes reality. Unfortunately, King's is still yet to be realized. We're seeing this effort across the country to erase some of the legacies and stains of our history that should be upheld so we remind ourselves of who we do not want to be as a nation anymore. We want to be the best of ourselves and as King said, we can truly sing 'My Country Tis of Thee.'"