Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream (Part 2)

Previously, we presented Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech as a manifesto proclaiming a new future.
In this post we revisit his speech and link it to the US Declaration of Independence…

In a sense we’ve 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.”

Sources

Full Speech available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream

Complete Speech Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk

Geoff’s Comment

Manifestos do not live in isolation.
Martin Luther King connects his dream to the one created by the US founding fathers in their Declaration of Independence.
King uses the standard of ‘all men are created equal’ as his measure for racial equality.
Essentially, he implied, you can’t have one without the other.
When you set the standard in your manifesto, expect that someone will rightly call you to account on it.

Questions

What’s the standard you are setting through your manifesto? What systems, actions and results do you need in place to attain and maintain this standard?