Martin Luther King Jr. waves at crowd during 1963 March on Washington. (Associated Press file photo) “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” ––Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream I n its essence, “ I Have a Dream ” is one citizen’s soul-searing plea with his countrymen––Whites and Blacks––to recognize that racial disparities fueled by unwarranted bigotry were crippling America’s ability to shine as a true beacon of democracy in a world filled with people groping their way through suffocating shadows of political turmoil , economic oppression, military mayhem, starvation, and disease. The speech is particularly remarkable for the way it balances a militant rejection of racial and politica...

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was a manifestation of hope that humanity might one day get out of its own way by finding the courage to realize that love and nonviolence are not indicators of weakness but gifts of significant strength.” -- MLK poster art with quote by Aberjhani courtesy of Bright Skylark Literary Productions . Different roads provide diverse routes to freedom. For many, the path is an interior one. It first requires an individual to the clear from the landscape of inner being those areas overgrown with woody thickets of doubt and trauma or buried beneath swamplands of self-imposed limitations. There are others––like the Americans who struggled for civil rights in the 1960s, and citizens of the Middle East and various African countries currently battling for basic human rights–– who take a more public journey to freedom. Their sense and experience of liberty is defined by interaction with the external dictates of history, evolving cultural persuasion...

“He captured the spotlight of history precisely at the right time, and responded with a blueprint for what America could become if it trusted its democratic legacy… He was murdered. But his dream still excites our social and political imaginations. It beckons us to work, to realize the dream that America can indeed be a truly pluralistic society and that planet Earth can be a place in the universe where peace, justice, and freedom are the dominant ethos.” ––James M. Washington, Introduction to A Testament of Hope , The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr . August 28, 2013, will mark the 50th anniversary of the great 1963 March on Washington D.C. for Civil Rights and for Martin Luther King Jr.’s delivery of his now iconic “I Have a Dream” speech before a national audience.  Plans had long been underway to commemorate the event on Saturday, August 24, with a symbolic reenactment of the original march. Recent events, however, such as George Zimmerman’s ...

                       The late jazz bassist Ben Tucker. ( photo courtesy of MySpace music artist page ) It is always difficult to make peace with the death of someone who gives as much to a city as preeminent jazz-man Ben Tucker gave through his musical genius, philanthropy, and love to Savannah, Georgia. It is even harder when that death occurs violently and makes one feel like it should have never happened in the first place. Nevertheless, that so many are now taking time to remember and honor him is truly inspiring. It was never my privilege to know Tucker as well as many others in Savannah’s jazz and cultural arts community did but it was my good fortune to benefit from his expansive creative endeavors. The 2009 article A Son of Savannah Celebrated  was one small attempt to pay tribute to the man while still in his jazz swinging prime 2009: The City of Savannah Celebrates a Favorite Son - National African-...