Today is the 58th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech at the 1963 March on Washington.
His call for freedom still rings out “from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city.”
Let’s revisit some of his words from that day.
“Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation…But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.” #IHaveADream
“One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.
One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.” #IHaveADream
“But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.
We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation…” #IHaveADream
“…And so we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” #IHaveADream
“This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
1963 is not an end, but a beginning.” #IHaveADream
“We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” #IHaveADream
“We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.” #IHaveADream
“No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” #IHaveADream
“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.’” #IHaveADream
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” #IHaveADream
“…When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics…” #IHaveADream
“…will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’” #IHaveADream
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
BREAKING: The AP just called the 2024 presidential election for Donald Trump.
We’re clear-eyed about the chaos and destruction a second Trump administration will cause to our nation.
That’s why we’re done with handwringing, admiring the problem, or waiting anxiously to see which unlawful action President-elect Trump will take on Day One. We are ready to take action the minute Trump takes the oath of office.
President-elect Trump will keep his promise to target the 'enemy within,' a.k.a. anyone who disagrees with him.
He is dead serious about seeking retribution against political opponents and deploying federal law enforcement to shut down protests.
But we have a 105-year track record of fighting such abuses of power.
President-elect Trump has been crystal clear about plans to deport one million immigrants every year. Past attempts at immigration raids have shown there is no way to deport one million immigrants without violating due process and engaging in racial discrimination.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was reintroduced in the Senate today, nearly a month after Sonya Massey, a Black woman, was murdered in her home by a white police officer.
The Senate has neglected to hold a vote on this bill for years despite bipartisan passage in the House.
We’re calling on Congress to strengthen and improve the bill to more comprehensively address police misconduct and brutality, and pass this legislation once and for all.
Qualified immunity prevents victims of police violence from holding officials liable, and protects officers who engage in egregious misconduct.
We need a robust system in place that prevents officers from evading accountability.
The Pentagon continues to send equipment made for the battlefield to police departments across the country, allowing police forces to wreak havoc on our communities.
Federal law must prohibit use of this dangerous technology by law enforcement agencies.
BREAKING: We’re representing the NRA at the Supreme Court in their case against New York’s Department of Financial Services for abusing its regulatory power to violate the NRA’s First Amendment rights.
The government can’t blacklist an advocacy group because of its viewpoint.
We don’t support the NRA's mission or its viewpoints on gun rights, and we don’t agree with their goals, strategies, or tactics.
But we both know that government officials can't punish organizations because they disapprove of their views. nytimes.com/2023/12/09/us/…
If the Supreme Court doesn’t intervene, it will create a dangerous playbook for state regulatory agencies across the country to blacklist or punish any viewpoint-based organizations — from abortion rights groups to environmental groups or even ACLU affiliates.
BREAKING: We're suing Tennessee for their “aggravated prostitution” statute that targets people with HIV with harsh punishment and lifetime sex offender registration.
This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women.
The law elevates engaging in sex work from a misdemeanor to a felony based on someone's HIV status – a protected disability.
People who are convicted must register as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives, restricting their access to housing, employment, and social services.
Three years ago today, the murder of George Floyd in broad daylight by a Minneapolis police officer sparked the largest protests against police brutality in U.S. history.
George Floyd should still be alive.
George Floyd's murder demonstrated what we've known for too long: The policing institutions in our country are deeply entrenched in racism and violence.
We cannot allow it to continue.
Since June 2020, many cities and states have passed important but modest reforms, strengthening oversight of police departments and banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
BREAKING: We’re asking a federal court to block two provisions of an anti-voter law in Georgia that make it harder for people with disabilities to vote.
As it is now, the law makes it a felony for friends, neighbors, or staff who work in shelters or nursing homes to help people receive or return an absentee ballot, even if the person has a disability.
The law also requires counties to move ballot drop boxes indoors and limits their hours.
For people with mobility disabilities, this made turning in their ballot an arduous and painful ordeal — and for some it makes voting inaccessible altogether.