I Remember Martin.

A few of us old heads that were around when Martin L. King was marching is still around.  I can say. “ I was there."  I remember when the doors of Black churches  were closed to MLK.  I remember when black people said Martin was irrelevant, nothing but a trouble maker and he need to go and sit down.  I remember when the militant black groups infiltrated his peaceful marches and created  chaos that resulted in violence.   I remember when members of his inner circle plotted against him and sought to take control or split his organization.  I remember the March on Washington  and his famous speech,  “I have a dream .”   I also remember waking up one morning  and realizing that the dream had ended and the nightmare had begun.

     “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal”  This is a quotation from the Declaration of Independence, it  has been called an "immortal declaration".  It is the single phrase of the United States Revolutionary period with the most continuing importance.  Today the descendants of African slaves stake their quest for freedom  and deliverance from hatred and racism on these immortal words that is hailed as a divine conceit.

     The truth is, Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner first used this phrase in the Declaration of Independence as a rebuttal  to the prevailing theory of the day, the Divine Right of Kings.  The use of this phrase was not to set the stage for the freedom of the African slaves, as we have been told, Africans slaves were not considered as a part of that group of, “all men”, nor were women.  The first word, “We” referenced a small group of men who authored a document that said, “we do not accept the rites of kingship.” 

      The phrase has been quoted, misquoted and incorporated into speeches by a wide array of substantial figures.  The phrase was also quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous I Have a Dream speech, as the "creed" of the United States. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.