Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most prolific individuals in American history. Many have come to know Martin Luther King Jr. for his march on the Washington mall where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech is the center piece which defines not just the civil rights moment, but also the life of Martin Luther King Jr. But the I have a Dream Speech is just a fraction of the body of work of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. He desired not just that there be racial harmony, but that there also be racial justice. And not simply racial justice, but that there be economic racial justice. Here we are several decades since the death of Martin Luther King and the Black community is worst off today than it was during the years preceding the civil rights movement. This is no accident. The condition of the black community is a crime perpetrated by comforting faces, and backed by a power devoid of compassion, and indifferent to facts and reason. The Speech which posits the basis of Dr. King’s legacy isn’t the “I Have a Dream” speech, but “The other America” speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech is palatable and preferred- by those whom seek to maintain the status quo- because it frames the issues of racial intolerance, but fails to make a demand for economic inclusion or economic justice. However, the speech titled “The Other America” confronts economic policies which were designed by United States government to permanently cripple the black community economically. Therefore since it was the policies of the United States government which created the plight of black desecrated communities it is just, and necessary that this government, right the historical wrong by: Student loan forgiveness, Land grants, and the debt acquisition of small and mid-size black owned businesses.
