Good morning and welcome to Five Things, today is Sunday, August 27, 2023.

Bernice King's father knew, she said, that the days would come when the oppressed and

marginalized would need words of reassurance to continue their struggle when he might

not be around.

That she said was on the mind of her father, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. as he

prepared to address more than 200,000 people at the historic March on Washington for

Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963.

In a conversation with USA Today, Bernice King revisited the speech, widely considered

one of the greatest public orations of all time with its famous four words, I have

a dream before the 60th anniversary of its delivery.

She considered how portions of the address have been forgotten, and its overall purpose

muted, even as many of its themes and goals remain relevant today.

When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and

the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promising note to which every American

was to fall air.

This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men, as well as white men, would be

guarantee the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promise and note, insofar as her citizens

of color are concerned.

Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check,

a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

But we refuse to believe that the Bank of Justice is bankrupt.

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