Notes from Clayborn Temple

Reverend Middlebrook and I sat near the back, close to the door, after he finished speaking and talked about how far we had come as individuals and as a people and how far we had to go. Around us voices of the poor, the elderly, and disenfranchised who had walked in from surrounding community were still rising up in song. He said to me, "That is the sound of freedom."

I ask him why we weren't all together with the celebrants at Mason Temple, people he has walked with his whole life ever since Reverend King was gunned down feet from where he sat. He looked back without even pausing and said, "They need their Dr. King too."

On this day, when we remember our personal image of what was taken from us, remember that there are millions who may have been freed in their hearts by the courage of great men like Reverend King but who remain in shackles. The fight is not over. The fight has not changed.