Make your vote count for hope and change, Nov. 4th
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton Norton (D-D.C.)/NNPA Special Commentary
Issue date: 6/15/08 Section: Politics
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. put Black Americans at the center of history almost 45 years ago when he won the Nobel Prize for leading a non-violent revolution against American racism and racial discrimination in our country.
Black Americans last week stood with Barack Obama at another crossroad, when the Senator made history by winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. The accomplishments of both these African- Americans were liberating - for Black people and for our country. With the Nobel Peace Prize, the world recognized not only King, but the significance of our non-violent movement for human rights and equal citizenship. Senator Obama's achievement has equivalent significance.
The high road he paved for hope and unity, and against division, moved voters beyond the old racism, just as King's non-violent resistance and his lyrical masterpieces of language, laced with love of country and of his white opponents, changed our country.
Both men had magical appeal, but personal charisma alone could not have broken the barriers of the ages. The courage of King's campaigns defying violence with the brave and brilliant use of non-violence was central to the direction he and the movement took, and to the ultimate victory of our movement.
Dr. King reached his goals with the huge 1963 March on Washington and the achievement of three great civil rights statutes - the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Whatever happens in November, Barack Obama, too, has changed America. A Black American has defeated not just any opponent, but the most formidable, Hillary Clinton, whom we salute as a champion of the same issues and causes that Senator Obama and African Americans regard as fundamental.
Yet, Obama rose from community organizer and little-known senator, and came from nowhere in the polls to win 33 contests from South Carolina to Montana, to Clinton's 18, and the delegate majority necessary to capture the nomination.
Black Americans last week stood with Barack Obama at another crossroad, when the Senator made history by winning the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. The accomplishments of both these African- Americans were liberating - for Black people and for our country. With the Nobel Peace Prize, the world recognized not only King, but the significance of our non-violent movement for human rights and equal citizenship. Senator Obama's achievement has equivalent significance.
The high road he paved for hope and unity, and against division, moved voters beyond the old racism, just as King's non-violent resistance and his lyrical masterpieces of language, laced with love of country and of his white opponents, changed our country.
Both men had magical appeal, but personal charisma alone could not have broken the barriers of the ages. The courage of King's campaigns defying violence with the brave and brilliant use of non-violence was central to the direction he and the movement took, and to the ultimate victory of our movement.
Dr. King reached his goals with the huge 1963 March on Washington and the achievement of three great civil rights statutes - the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Whatever happens in November, Barack Obama, too, has changed America. A Black American has defeated not just any opponent, but the most formidable, Hillary Clinton, whom we salute as a champion of the same issues and causes that Senator Obama and African Americans regard as fundamental.
Yet, Obama rose from community organizer and little-known senator, and came from nowhere in the polls to win 33 contests from South Carolina to Montana, to Clinton's 18, and the delegate majority necessary to capture the nomination.
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