MLK’s ‘Dream’ speech honored as Obama reaches milestone

As Barack Obama prepared for a history-making acceptance speech Thursday night, the head of the King Center in Atlanta drew a connection with another famed address 45 years earlier to the day.

Isaac Newton Farris Jr., president of the center dedicated to the work of Martin Luther King Jr., said the slain civil rights leader’s “I have a dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington helped pave the way for Obama’s nomination as a presidential candidate.

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Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

Fifth-graders from John Hope Elementary School in Atlanta pass by a photograph of a handcuffed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the grounds of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. The youngsters attended an event titled ‘Celebration of the Dream: a Tribute to the 45th Anniversary of the ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech’ on Thursday at the site’s visitor center.

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“Sen. Obama chose this anniversary not only because it conveniently falls at the end of the Democratic convention, but because he understands that this great day would not be possible without the leadership and sacrifices made by Martin Luther King Jr. …,” Farris, King Center president and CEO, said during an anniversary program at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

The more than 80,000 peopled expected to converge on Ivesco Field for Obama’s acceptance speech represent about one-fourth of the estimated 250,000 on hand during the historic 1963 March on Washington.

King’s speech, delivered from the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, and the multiracial march helped build congressional support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

At least two King children — Martin Luther and Bernice — and their aunt, Christine King Farris, were scheduled to be in Denver for Obama’s speech.

Farris described Obama’s acceptance of the nomination as “a milestone of historic proportions” and urged Americans to “pause for a moment to give thanks to God that this day has come to pass.” He said Obama’s success is a significant step toward King’s dream of a color-blind society, but that work remains in eliminating racism, discrimination, poverty and other problems.

Students from nearby John Hope Elementary opened the program at the King site’s Visitor Center with the Pledge of Allegiance.

“…It’s up to you to complete his dream,” Farris told them during the hourlong tribute, which included a viewing of King’s speech. “It’s up to you to complete what he started.”