Paused its daily business to pay tribute to reverend Martin Luther king jr. s life and legacy. And it seems fitting that we should have the conversation the day after the nations first black president was sworn in for his second term. I know much of the nation has already moved on, and president obamas soaring rhetoric about the promise of america, life, liberty, justice, equality for all he has already been forgotten by many, and i know that many people in america will not think of dr. King again until his holiday rolls around again next year. But i would like for us to pause tonight and think more deeply about the meaning of dr. Kings life and his legacy and what it has to teach us about our nations president. It seems particularly important for us to do that given that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. 50 years have passed since his voice soared over the washington monument, declaring his dream i have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the America
The american dream. Yesterday while i was watching president obamas inaugural address, i heard echoes of kings speech i have a dream. And when i turn off my television set, i spent a few minutes reflecting on the question are all of us truly welcome to share in this dream come the same dream that dr. King dreamed . Most americans i am sure can be cite portions of dr. Kings i have a dream speech by heart. Its an extraordinary and very familiar speech ive grown accustomed to hearing clips of his speech played over and over are cycled over and over on the radio every january. They are the favorite quotes, the favorite lines. And now that i have schoolage children i see how king has explained to them in classrooms when i was in Elementary School there was no Martin Luther king day, no discussion of his heroism in the classrooms but when my children came home from school just the other day, they told me all they had learned in school about his courage. She was the man who stood up to the po