Today is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.  On this historic day Senator Barack Obama will officially accept the Democratic Party nomination to be the party representative in the general election to become the President of the United States.  And ProgressPolitics will be there.  This marks the first time that an African-American has ever achieved this high honor and this writer predicts that there will not be a dry eye in the house.  As an African-American that will be sitting in the audience during this once in a lifetime experience, it is impossible to explain the range of emotions that are going through me right now.  Pride, Excitement, Optimism, and Joy are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind.  There are many people who have worked tirelessly for Sen Barack Obama because of his vision, his character, and his plan to return America to its former greatness.  All we can say is that this is the first step for many of us.  For many African-Americans who have never seen a person that looked like us in such a position, I would say that the predominate emotion is pride.  Sen. Obama has reached this great milestone not by changing who he is but because of who he is.  As a African-American male raised by a single mother, this is an all to common way that many African-Americans start out.   Witnessing someone who came from such humble beginnings achieve this great thing sends a message to every African-American child that anything and everything is possible regardless of how you start out.  The pundits may decide to try and spin this, by pundits I mean the Right (Fox, Limbaugh, Hannity), because of the size of the stadium and the aestetics of the venue but the truth is that Sen. Barack Obama is a candidate of the people.  It is the blood, sweat, and tears of millions that will have put Sen. Obama on the Invesco Field stage tonight.  The idea that it is a mistake to allow them to partake in this historic occasion is absolutely ludicrous.  There are thousands upon thousands of people who want to witness this historic event and to limit it to only a few people would be an injustice to all the volunteers and voters who are responsible for Sen. Obama being there.  For the first time in history we have an African-American of a major party as an official contender for President of the United States.   We are in the beginnings of a “dream” realized.

Ladies and Gentleman we give you Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. 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, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory 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. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!        

Progress.

The natives were restless in Denver today in anticipation of what the former President Bill Clinton. Fear no more because Bill Clinton HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!!   The audience went wild during several point sin his speech.  Congressman Meeks introduced President Bill Clinton. The former president expressed his honor to be appearing at the convention.  He then said that he is here first to support Barack Obama and second to warm up the crowd for Joe Biden.  President Clinton then said that he will do everything he can to elect Barack Obama for president.  The former president reiterated that the nation is in trouble and that our position in the world has been weakened.  President Clinton then said that the job of the next president is to rebuild the American dream and restore our leadership in the world Clinton then stated with conviction that Barack Obama is the man for this job.  The former  President said that Barack Obama is ready to lead and honor the oath to preserve, honor, and defend the Constitution of the United States.  The President received a standing ovation several times during his speech.  And the coupe de gras, Clinton stated indisputably that “Barack Obama is ready to be the President of the United States.”  President Clinton emphasized the importance of diplomacy first in this new world.  It was a great performance by President Clinton.  The torch has been passed. 

There was quite a bit of anticipation for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s speech last night amongst the chattering class.  Punditville was falling all over themselves hoping for something, something unexpected to happen so that they would be able to chatter about it for a few weeks.  We can tell you that the mood on the floor of the convention was not as a buzz as the chattering class is reporting.  As a matter of fact there is really no drama at all.  The mood on the streets and in the Convention hall is excitment and gratitude that the democratic party has such a great candidate.  There have been a few protests but they are usually par for the course at any party convention.  Anyway, back to Sen. Clinton’s speech.  Chelsea Clinton introduced her mother, and Sen Clinton came out to thundering applause.  The speech was well received by the delegates and all the other attendees lucky enough to secure credentials.  We stood just behind Governor of Virgina Tim Kaine and Virginia Congressman Jim Moran.  Both of whom seemed pleased by the speech.  We also interviewed a few Clinton delegates afterwards to get their opinion.  Most of whom said that they are democrats first and will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama in the fall.  One said that she will be voting for Sen. Obama but needs a little more time to come to terms with the idea that her 92 year old mother might not see the first female president.  This particular delegate also said that she would not be able to vote for John McCain given his position on several key issues that are deal breakers for her.  We also spoke with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York who said that the speech was great.  He also said that he thought that Clinton’s speech hit just the right note because it gave people reasons to be for Sen. Obama rather than to simply vote for Sen. Obama.  Sen. Schumer went on to say that the speech had substance and stressed the importance of helping the middle class.  He said that the speech was “well done, well thought out, and given with real conviction.”  Finally the Senator of New York concluded that “it wasn’t easy to do.” We also spoke briefly with Gov. Bll Richardson of New Mexico who said that the speech was “well done.” 

There were a few celebrities in attendance including Richard Dreyfuss and Jane Seymour.

Yesterday was the 88th anniversary of women’s right to vote and the platform for the Democratic Party Convention was all about women. The day started out with a women’s caucus featuring Mame Reilly of Virginia moderating. The caucus focused on all the accomplishes in the United States since women received the right to vote. It also emphasized the stakes of this election. It was repeated that John McCain voted against women on the equal pay for equal work bill before the Senate. Also, the importance actress Fran Dresher emphasized how important it is for the government not to legislate women’s bodies by taking away the right to choose. Ms. Dresher told her personal story of how she hates that her right to choose was taken because of a radical histerectomy and how women in general will also hate if their right to choose is taken by electing McCain. Dresher said that women should not allow the goverment to take their right to choose by electing John McCain as president. Ann Richards daughter, Cecile Richards electrified the caucus when she spoke about her mother and the many reasons for choosing Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain. Richards also empasized the record of Sen. Barack Obama on women’s issues. Obama voted for birth control, comprehensive women’s health education, and a women’s right to chose. Richards told how Sen. McCain has voted against women’s healthcare 125 times. She also reiterated that McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, the quote of the day from Richards was when she said “a woman voting for John McCain is like a chicken voting for Cornel Sanders.” Other speakers were United States Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. There was also a tribute to United States Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio.

The Democratic Party of Virginia welcomed it’s Virginia delegation like no other. Virginia kicked off the convention with a bar-b-que and concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Red Rocks is Denver’s natural, and geologically formed, iconic outdoor concert theatre. Green Sunday at Red Rocks featured Laurie David and performances by artists Cheryl Crow, Sugarland, and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds. Pictures to follow