The juxtaposition of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday today and Barack Obama's presidential inauguration tomorrow has not escaped the notice of Americans. Many see the two events as book ends of America's troubled and often violent racial history. Obama's election to the most powerful position in world politics is widely perceived as the successful culmination of King's dream -that America has indeed taken the first significant step towards becoming a nation where its citizens will be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.
The editorial in today's Houston Chronicle takes note of the historic significance of the two dates:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s adherence to non- violence as a tactic in the midst of the often bloody confrontations of the ’60s and his optimism that it could eventually win African-Americans their full civil rights won him a Nobel Peace Prize and carried him beyond assassination to greatness.
Today we celebrate the life of a man who worked within his own troubled times to create a future in which Americans of any ethnicity, sex or religion would be judged by individual merit, and that from the school house to the court house to the White House, doors would be open to all with the talent and ambition to seek entry.
The Baptist minister often described that future in biblical terms as a dream and a promised land, but his real work was down to earth, with riders boycotting segregated buses, citizens denied the right to vote, and on the last night of his life, striking sanitation workers in Memphis. King may have been a dreamer, but he was also a pragmatic man with a plan.
In one more affirmation of the acuity of King’s vision, Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a mother from Kansas and a Kenyan father, will be sworn into office Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States. In a hard-fought primary campaign against Sen. Hillary Clinton and a general election contest with Sen. John McCain, Obama demonstrated qualities reminiscent of the man whose work made his own triumph possible. He too is clearly a man with a plan.
Like Dr. King, Obama has risen to the heights via inspirational rhetoric, formidable intellect, and a rock-solid demeanor that conveys both calm and caring. His message of change and inclusion mirrors King’s unswerving faith in the potential of the United States to fulfill the promise of equal rights for all enshrined in the Constitution.
It is a faith we can embrace during an extraordinary two days that bring King’s vision ever closer to reality.
Accidental Blogger 
One response to “The Dreamer … And Now, The Doer?”
Yes, Barack Obama is a winner all the way. He is also proof that sometimes, people let go of the jingosim and stick to the merits of a candidate. What pains me is that even after all these years, his winning in spite of his color, is an achievement.. MLK should be remembered the day this color does not matter at all – to anyone.
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