50 YEARS LATER

Obama Delivers Speech in Honor of MLK

“Because they kept marching, America changed.”

In front of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial, President Obama honored the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “Because they kept marching, America changed,” the president said, and added that because of the marchers, laws were passed and progress was made not just for African-Americans, but for women, gays, and other minority groups. “We would dishonor those heroes to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete,” Obama said, and lamented the current rates of black and Latino unemployment, racial gaps in wealth, and entrenched interests that have stalled the political process. “Change does not come from Washington but to Washington ... That is the lesson of our past and the promise of our future,” he concluded.