The Fierce Urgency of Now
“But we refuse to believe that the bank
of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds
in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this
check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and
the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind
America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury
of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time
to make real the promises of democracy”
~Dr. Martin Luther King, August 28, 1963
Dr. King, in the excerpt above, was referring to racial segregation in America. Today his words are as relevant in light of the beating every citizen’s Constitutional rights has taken over the last eight years. And his use of financial metaphor! Wow! How apt is that?
Let’s enjoy and celebrate this day, the Inauguration Day of our new president. Let this day feed our self-esteem, individually and as a nation. Let’s be proud because, as much as today is about President Barack Obama, it is equally about us, the citizens of the United States of America, all of us, no matter who we voted for. We did it!
