We shall overcome someday.

Fifty years ago

was the great year

1963.

In the beginning of the year,

George Wallace became governor of Alabama

and inauspiciously began his term,

"Segregation now,

segregation tomorrow,

and segregation forever!"

But in August,

fifty years ago today,

black and white met

in a hallowed place

presided over by a great man of freedom.

And Dr. King

told us about his dream.

He said,

"Segregation never

and no more!"

He said words

that made us think of our own dreams--

words that still enter our hearts

fifty years later

with all the power that language can hold,

brimming with as many gleaming ideals

as feeble man can aspire to.

I'm glad that

"in the fell clutch of circumstance"

he didn't trade his ability to dream

for the drought of bitterness,

a mess of pottage

compared with the inestimable birthright

that was his as a son of Adam.

The human soul can endure

when it knows that it shall overcome.

"The most important verse

is the one they wrote down in Montgomery, Alabama.

They said,

'We are not afraid.'"