Life’s Purpose
Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech over-arches into worldwide appreciation and acceptance. As America advances to celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dr. King, ‘Speech’ and then 1963-March on Washington for “Jobs and Freedom” all can say Dr. King and his speeches, the man and his message, were born out of struggle that Dr. King views as “tension” flamed and fanned by infernos of injustice. Dr. King’s purposeful “I Have a Dream” speech in this 21st century should remind citizens to celebrate life and legacy, but also reflect, grapple, comprehend…fully… the journey of struggle.
Growth Statistics 1963-2012
Built around 1963, the humane, inhumane or social economic issues had impact if not eroded by race, prejudice, segregation and more pitched 10.7percent or more than 20 million, blacks, of the United States population to disproportions. In 2013, blacks make up 14.7percent, 44 million, of the United States 316,148,990population (census.gov) so, how has America journeyed?
50 Years after King’s Advocate for Jobs
Statistics show, in 2011, 43.4 percent blacks are homeowners, up from 41.6% in 1970 when information became available for race (Profile America CB13-FF.22 Facts for Features. census.gov). In 2011, the median income for blacks weighed in at 66% ($40,495) of all US families, doubling almost from $22,266 in 1963. In 2012, 62% of blacks age 18 years and older voted, the number is up from 1964s, 58.5%. There is rise in the number for black elected officials to an estimated 10,500, in 2012, over 1,469 in 1970 -the first recorded year. In 2011, 2.6 million blacks (students and graduates) attended college compared to 234,000 in 1964.
How Is America Progressing? A Minted Coin; a Minted Speech
The minting of a penny, in 2012, cost the United States Mint 1.99 cents. Profitability loss from all pennies made, in 2012, amounted to $58,000,000. However, each penny bears the image of President Abraham Lincoln. By extension, Lincoln’s image represents history: “Emancipation;” liberty: inscribed. Raw material expense producing a penny cost more than the face value of the one-cent piece itself but there is more to “value” than dollars and cents.
On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln, forerunner of Dr. Martin Luther King, assassinated in course of “Emancipation Proclamation.” Dr. King: “I Have a Dream” speech– similar to minting a coin-began minting from a city jail — in Bermingham (1963) — five years prior Memphis Tennessee, April 4, 1968, assassination.
President Lincoln and Dr. King
Both President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King, at different times and hours in history but happening in April-died for the fight and cause for America’s destiny: “freedom,” “emancipation,” liberty. “Tension” engulfs the fight. Thomas Jefferson penned, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” Inequality is the scourge, the offspring of injustice. Dr. King wrote, “Injustice done anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”