One thing about being the age that I am is that I have seen some very significant historical events during the course of my life time. I have seen the first space flight, the invention of the microchip, 9-11 and the election of the first African-American President, just to name a few events. There have been many innovations and changes that would have been unimaginable just a generation ago. The one event that I was privileged to witness as a 10 year old was the March on Washington that culminated with Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have A Dream Speech". You have to understand that this speech was set in the context of a lot of activity that was focused on African-Americans having the rights that were guaranteed to them by the 14th and 15th Amendment of the Constitution, passed 100 years ago. There were marches, sit-ins, strikes and other non-violent demonstrations that were occurring in the South over the four or so years prior to his speech. Progress toward equality was very slow and there were acts of violence against African-Americans that included shootings, lynching and beatings. Things that we take for granted, such as the right to vote and the right to buy a house wherever you can afford to buy it, were not a reality in most of the country, especially for the majority of African-Americans who lived in the South. It was a very turbulent time.

Though I grew up in Wisconsin, I had experienced some of the same discrimination. My parents could not purchase a house in a neighborhood that they really wanted to move to in Racine. The issue was not being able to afford it; it was their being the wrong color to live in that neighborhood. When I would visit relatives in the South, I saw first hand the open prejudice and discrimination that was a part of their everyday lives. I would visit their segregated schools, drink from their segregated fountains and use their segregated bathrooms. There are young people today who cannot even imagine the amount of progress from those days until now. For the change to happen, it took heroic people to step forward and protest against the wrongs that were being done. Martin Luther King Jr. was the most visible leader on the national level. There were many leaders in a variety of cities and towns. In Beloit, there were people like Reverend Prude and others who stood up and refused to allow discrimination to continue. Not all of the heroes were black. Some of them were white Americans, of good will , whose consciences could not tolerate the continuance of the moral evil of hatred and prejudice. On one occasion, a house wife from Detroit, who joined the protest in the South, was brutally murdered. Events like this eventually awakened many average Americans who had quieted their own consciences with denial and disbelief at what they were watching on the news. It reached a point where the majority could tolerate it no longer.

As a 10 year old, I wish that I could tell you that I realized the import of what I was watching. Of course, I was watching it through 10 year old eyes. In the decades that have passed, I have had many opportunities to reassess that speech and event. I believe that it was the tipping point in the civil rights movement. I think that it was the beginning of the message of equality reaching into the homes of all Americans. Who couldn’t be moved by the words of that speech? A few years ago, I would have placed that speech in 2nd place behind only the Gettysburg Address in American History. Recently, I heard a group of High School students, from Beloit and Janesville, recite the entire speech, not just the "I Have A Dream" portion. It is now in first place. The words and terminology are second to none and the picture that it paints in the minds and hearts of people are unparalleled in the history of this country. I cry every time that I hear it.
I will forever be indebted to Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Prude and the many known and unknown heroes of the civil rights movement who have paved a path for me to follow. I am grateful for their sacrifice and will take the freedom and opportunities that exist now and use them to the fullest. Every day, I will commit myself to ensure that young people in Beloit, of every race and economic status, will have adults who work to open the doors to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for them, in the same way that others have opened the door for us.