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On this coming weekend celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our minds may well go to memories of watching footage, or reading the text, of the version of his "I Have a Dream" speech he delivered August 28th at the 1963 March on Washington. Perhaps some of you watched it at the time or even attended the March! You can read or listen to the speech here. The earliest known delivery of many of the "I Have a Dream" elements, however, was in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on November 27, 1962 (you can listen to an excerpt of that speech here).
But some scholars point to a 1941 poem by Langston Hughes, social activist, novelist, playwright, columnist, and leader of the Harlem Renaissance (an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, and politics in the 1920s and 30s) as the original influence on King's thoughts leading up to the "I Have a Dream" speech. It is Hughes' voice I share with us today:
I Dream a World
Langston Hughes
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind—
Of such I dream, my world!
Do you have memories of King that surface on his celebration day each year?
Whether or not you read or listened to the speeches again, does the imagery in the poem resonate with your sense of King's thoughts?
How does being a part of our congregation, in whatever way you participate with UUCMC, part of your building what King popularized as the "Beloved Community" (originally a concept of Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce)?
What is your dream for yourself, for your children, grandchildren, friends, or your world?
We will do some community projects together following worship, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend has been, since 1994, a call for volunteer service.
I hope to see you Thursday at Tea Time and then again on Sunday, as we worship (with "worship" used in its original meaning of "a shaping concern for all that is of worth") and serve together.
Rev. Craig
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