The Dream Of Others

We are not alone among the people of color that have
a dream.Discrimination has no color such as in India
where the Sikhs are struggling for their rights. After
reading the article below you may feel a kindred
spirit with others in the world that are also struggling
for their rights.


Every 26^th January is a day for Sikhs to reflect upon the years gone by. Many among the Sikhs feel that the last many decades have been teasing times. Though of late there are Sikh faces to be seen in the Indian landscape, for a very long time, India has taunted the Sikhs a great deal in every sphere of life, affecting their life, ideals and goals.

The founding fathers of the Indian constitution touted it as a sacrosanct document to be religiously followed by all in letter and spirit. A glance at the huge volume shows that it has reasonable language but the implementation of the clauses has invariably followed the whims and fancies of the political parties dominating the life of the people of this country.

Every 26^th January is a day for Sikhs to reflect upon the years gone by. The last many decades have been teasing times. India has taunted the Sikhs a great deal in every sphere of life, affecting their life, ideals and goals.

The Sikh nation believes that the Indian constitution has failed the Sikh people. India uses the best democratic ideals and institutions, including the constitution to scuttle our religious, social and political aspirations.

More than a century ago, in his historic “I have a dream” speech, black civil rights activist, Martin Luther King said, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

What was then true for the black community in U.S.A, is more than true for the Sikhs in India. The situation is exactly similar. The intellectual and legal jargon of the Indian constitution failed the Sikhs, ab initio. Soon after it was ready, the Sikh members of the Constituent Assembly, sensed the injustice and proclaimed, “The Sikhs do not accept this constitution. The Sikhs reject this constitution.” Even the leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, who are in power today in Punjab have spent years in prison for protesting anti-Sikh provisions of the constitution. The rationale for such rejection persists. All precepts of democracy including liberty, freedom of speech, right to dissent exist in this constitution, but in reality the cheque bounces. Again and again. The funds are not insufficient but the intention is malafide.

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Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/

1963!

The story below tells of the year 1963 when
the black man in America sheds the passive
attitude of restraint and makes the country
sit-up and take a good look at itself. After
reading it please feel free to comment.


This is original Time "Man Of The Year" story from Jan. 3, 1964 The jetliner left Atlanta and raced through the night toward Los Angeles. From his window seat, the black man gazed down at the shadowed outlines of the Appalachians, then leaned back against a white pillow. In the dimmed cabin light, his dark, impassive face seemed enlivened only by his big, shiny, compelling eyes. Suddenly, the plane spuddered in a pocket of severe turbulence. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. turned a wisp of a smile to his companion and said: "I guess that's Birmingham down below." It was, and the reminder of Vulcan's city set King to talking quietly of the events of 1963.

"In 1963," he said, there arose a great Negro disappointment and disillusionment and discontent. It was the year of Birmingham, when the civil rights issue was impressed on the nation in a way that nothing else before had been able to do. It was the most decisive year in the Negro's fight for equality. Never before had there been such a coalition of conscience on this issue." Symbol of Revolution. In 1963, the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that coalition of conscience insatiably changed the course of U.S. life. Nineteen million Negro citizens forced the nation to take stock of itself in the Congress as in the corporation, in factory and field and pulpit and playground, in kitchen and classroom.

The U.S. Negro, shedding the thousand fears that have encumbered his generations, made 1963 the year of his outcry for quality, of massive demonstrations, of wins and speeches and street fighting, of soul searching in the suburbs and psalm singing in the jail cells. And there was Birmingham with its bombs and snarling dogs; its shots in the night and death in the streets and in the churches; its lashing fire hoses at washed human beings along slippery avenues without washing away the dignity; its men and women pinned to the ground by officers of the law ... this was the Negro revolution.

Birmingham was its main battleground, and Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Negroes in Birmingham, became millions, black and white, in South and North, the symbol of that revolution -- and the Man of the Year. King is in many ways the unlikely leader of an unlikely organization -- the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a loose alliance of 100 or so church-oriented groups. King has neither the quiet brilliance nor the sharp administrative capabilities of the N.A.A.C.P.'s Roy Wilkins. He has none of the sophistication of the National Urban League's Whitney Young Jr., lacks Young's experience in dealing with high echelons of the U.S. business community.

He has neither the inventiveness of CORE's James Farmer nor the raw militancy of SNICK's John Lewis nor the bristling wit of Author James Baldwin. He did not make his mark in the entertainment field, where talented Negroes have long been prominent, or in the sciences and professions where Negroes have, almost unnoticed, been coming into their own. He earns no more money than some plumbers ($10,000 a year), and possesses little in the way of material things.





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Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/

Photo I.D. Needed To Vote?

In this day of mass fraud and identification theft
should you need a photo I.D. to vote? The answer
I think is yes. Like so many other things in our high
tech society your right to cast your vote should not be
disrupted because of identity theft. Those who appose
this new law cite that many poor people will not be
able to afford the fees of a photo I.D. This I find to be
bull because most states have plans in place that allow
those that can't afford photo I.D.'s to either get them
for free or at a reduced rate. The Supreme Court is
taking up the matter and will make a decision soon.
What are your thoughts on this controversial subject?

There's the poor, 32-year-old mother of seven who says it would cost her at least $50 to vote in person. There's also the 92-year-old woman who's voted for decades in the same polling place, but now can't vote there because she let her driver's license expire when her eyesight began to fail.

These folks live in Indiana, home of the country's most restrictive photo-identification voter law. The U.S. Supreme Court is now scrutinizing whether that statute violates the first and 14th amendments, in the most contentious legal battle over voting since the high court issued a bitterly divided decision eight years ago that stopped Florida's recount and handed the presidency to George W. Bush.

If the law is upheld, voting rights advocates fear it will encourage conservative lawmakers across the country to enact equally restrictive measures. The high court's decision is expected in the summer -- leaving time to impact November's general election.

Opponents, most of them Democrats, say requiring photo ID at the polls disproportionately affects the poor, the elderly and minorities -- the most likely to lack photo identification.

But supporters, most of them Republicans, say such requirements are necessary to prevent voter fraud.

In states that narrowly lost fights that would force voters to produce this kind of identification, efforts are already underway to resurrect those more restrictive laws -- in anticipation of a favorable ruling from the high court.

In Kansas, for example, GOP legislators announced Jan. 11 that passing such a law was a top priority for its 2008 session. The announcement came two days after oral arguments in the Indiana case.

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Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/

Setting Things Straight

On April 16th, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King sat in
a Birmingham jail. He had come under criticism by
other clergymen throughout the south for his work
in civil rights movement. Having the utmost respect
for those fellow clergymen he decided to set things
straight with them and thus bringing them in to his
line of thinking. After reading this letter give us your
thoughts brilliant manuscript.

MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:

While confined here in the Birmingham City Jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine goodwill and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South--one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Whenever necessary and possible we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago our local affiliate here in Birmingham invited us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented and when the hour came we lived up to our promises. So I am here, along with several members of my staff, because I have basic organizational ties here.

Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the eighth century prophets left their little villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Graeco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere in this country.

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Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/

Truly Remembered ?

The story below is kinda sad in one aspect in which
through time the legacy of a very great man will be
lost in time.Fifty years from now how will Martin
Luther King be defined? Will he be just known for his
famous "I Have A Dream" speech on the Lincoln Memorial
or will he be know as a man who lived and died fighting
for the rights of others? How can we preserve the
legacy of America's most famous African American?.
Your comment is welcomed.


They are some of the most famous words in American history: "I have a dream ..." And the man who said them has become an icon.

Martin Luther King Jr. has certainly gotten his share of attention this year, the subject of a presidential campaigan controversy over his legacy that blew up just around the time of the holiday created to honor him.

But nearly 40 years after his assassination in April 1968, after the deaths of his wife and of others who knew both the man and what he stood for, some say King is facing the same fate that has befallen many a historical figure _ being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message.

"Everyone knows, even the smallest kid knows about Martin Luther King, can say his most famous moment was that "I have a dream" speech," said Henry Louis Taylor Jr., professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Buffalo.

"No one can go further than one sentence," he said. "All we know is that this guy had a dream, we don't know what that dream was."

At the time of his death, King was working on anti-poverty and anti-war issues. He had spoken out against the Vietnam War in 1967, and was in Memphis in April 1968 in support of striking sanitation workers.

King had come a long way from the crowds who cheered him at the 1963 March on Washington, when he was introduced as "the moral leader of our nation" _ and when he pronounced "I have a dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

By taking on issues outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had suffered, said Harvard Sitkoff, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire who has written a recently published book on King.





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Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/

Happy Birthday Dr. King

This year, the nation celebrates the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, on Monday January 21, 2008...

Happy Birthday Dr. King!