August 2023 is the sixtieth anniversary of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech and the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. UMI (City Ministries Inc.) has partnered with Harper Christian Assets, and the Ok.I.N.G. Motion to honor, have a good time, and share the teachings of MLK by the Share the Dream Challenge and curriculum. UrbanFaith sat down with the award successful journalist and Fox Sports activities commentator, Ok.I.N.G. Motion President, and co-host of Share The Dream Chris Broussard to speak in regards to the venture and MLK’s legacy 60 years after the “I Have A Dream” speech. The total interview is above, excerpts are beneath edited for size and readability.
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Chris Broussard co-host of Share the Dream
Allen
We’re speaking about one thing so particular, which is the sixtieth anniversary of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It has impressed us and encourage others to honor and have a good time the legacy by a venture referred to as “Shared the Dream.” And so immediately I’m right here with the commentator, the journalist, the host, the co-host for this venture, Mr. Chris Broussard, who has simply been somebody who’s been on the forefront of serving to push the dream ahead.
Chris
It’s nice to hitch you, Allen. And wow, thanks for that introduction. I’ll attempt to dwell as much as it on this interview, nevertheless it’s nice to be with you guys at UrbanFaith. And this Share the Dream venture is one thing that’s particular, one thing that’s anointed, and one thing that we do hope and imagine can have an important impression in our nation.
Allen
In a variety of methods it looks like we see Dr. King as a meme, proper? Prefer it’s only a image on social media with a quote taken out of context. Folks don’t even know for the I’ve a dream speech, that he begins with laying out the issues earlier than he will get to a imaginative and prescient for what we may do collectively. Are you able to discuss somewhat bit about what it appears wish to have a imaginative and prescient going ahead and why it’s so necessary to be taught from our historical past and tackle these realities earlier than we rush to the imaginative and prescient that God might need for us being united and being one?
Chris
No, that’s an important query. As a result of a variety of instances you hear discuss racial reconciliation. And to some folks, like I mentioned, does that imply a hug? Does that imply, you understand, just a few superficial gatherings, however not addressing the problems that left us unreconciled and go away us unreconciled? As you mentioned, most individuals don’t even know that Dr. King addressed these points earlier than he mentioned, “I’ve a dream” and all that stuff. And naturally, later in his life, he actually to some extent was distraught and disheartened when he actually appeared on the financial variations. And clearly he knew that [before]. However, within the South the racism was so overt that they have been addressing these conditions. Blacks couldn’t go right here; blacks couldn’t go there. You simply tackle these points. After which we went as much as the North and also you noticed the financial situations that many Africans People have been dwelling in. Within the North there [wasn’t persistent] authorized segregation, however blacks have been clearly getting the quick finish of the stick. It actually disheartened him, and he needed to rethink and was within the strategy of even considering like, “Okay, how are we going to handle this?” And he did have concepts and he talked about redistribution of wealth and all that stuff.
I feel the bottom line is that, our white brothers and sisters, significantly within the church, have been miseducated on the historical past of America. All of the discuss an important Christian nation, and manifest future and town on the hill. What about the best way African-People and Native People have been handled? And in order that miseducation informs the best way a variety of whites view the racial scenario immediately. And through the use of a variety of Dr. King’s ideas and educating, like we need to hopefully make clear how the true racial historical past of America, as unhealthy because it was, up to now, but in addition the way it impacts us immediately. The way it impacts the disparities you see immediately and the strain and the mistrust that you just see immediately and all of the occasions that we’ve seen up to now few years. All of that may be a remnant to some extent of a lot of the previous. The wealth hole. That’s not simply because whites have labored laborious, and blacks haven’t. It’s not due to that in any respect. It’s due to issues just like the federal housing administration loans that got out to primarily overwhelmingly white People within the from the Thirties on into the Nineteen Sixties that constructed these lovely white suburbs. The purple lining of the African-American neighborhoods which have value African-American households on common tons of of hundreds of {dollars}. These are the issues [that must be addressed]. It’s not simply let’s go have dinner collectively and be pals. It’s let’s tackle these financial points that actually have been created by the racism of the previous and tackle the these. After which [there can] be some actual racial unity and we will have some actual sturdy discussions about how we will remedy these issues that we have now immediately. So yeah, I feel that’s, you understand, a part of what we’re attempting to do with Share the Dream.
Allen
[In this curriculum] you define the six ideas of Dr. King’s legacy superbly: Conscience, justice, perseverance, hope, freedom, and love.] What ideas have you ever seen stand out in your individual life or be most influential to you or what have been your favourite ones to share within the collection?
Chris
Yeah man, there’s so many. I feel to some extent I’ve addressed somewhat little bit of the conscience of actually making America specifically, a lot of our white Christian brothers and sisters conscious of the true historical past of this nation. I’ve talked to whites who’ve talked about metropolis on the hill and the nice Christian heritage of America, who’ve talked about slavery as if it was just a bit blind spot. It was just a bit mistake. I’m like “No, you perceive that the rationale America was capable of turn into the best superpower we’ve ever seen was on the backs of slavery.” In order that is part of it attempting to only awaken that consciousness inside white People to know. So, I feel that’s the conscience. I may focus extra on justice as properly. Sure, we see overt acts [of racism] right here and there. However a variety of it’s delicate. Should you when you don’t have a deeper understanding of it and actually dig beneath the floor, you may get the mistaken thought of the racial scenario in America immediately. [Racist policies] created the wealth hole and all of that, that’s part of the justice we have to take a look at. I’ll shortly simply throw out another, the perseverance. Like a variety of time, I feel lots of people have been crushed down, significantly African People by the scenario in America immediately, by the persistence of the oppression. The place they’ve given up, the place they simply determined, nothing can enhance for us total or for me individually. It will probably have an effect on your determination making and issues like that. Whereas you look again within the day when Dr. King was marching and even earlier than that, within the face of even worse oppression, you probably did have, I might say, you most likely had extra perseverance and hope inside the Black group than you do immediately. And I imagine a variety of that was as a result of Dr. King and lots of the folks that have been working with him have been rooted in Jesus Christ. And whenever you’re rooted in Christ, regardless of how unhealthy issues look on the surface, you’ll have hope. As unhealthy as issues look on this nation, I do have hope due to the gospel and the transformative energy of the gospel and the way it can change an individual and a folks’s outlook on life, worldview, and decision-making habits, all of that. And I feel that’s what our ancestors had. And that’s what gave them the perseverance and the hope by slavery, by Jim Crow. We’ve got extra alternatives and freedom immediately, however many people lack the identical perseverance and hope that our ancestors had. In order that’s one thing I might wanna spotlight as properly. Why did they’ve that hope? Let me faucet into that motive behind their perseverance.
Allen
Yeah, I imply, they have been so rooted of their religion. And I actually respect this collection pointing that out, highlighting that, bringing that to the forefront, as a result of a variety of instances folks neglect that Dr. King was a minister, proper? Like he wasn’t just a few nice speaker and marcher, he was a minister. You started working together with his pal Andrew Younger who was there. What are a few of the classes that you just really feel like folks take away from having the ability to hear from some elders and from another of us who’re a part of the venture within the video collection within the curriculum?
Chris
Effectively, I feel that’s an important query. I feel Ambassador Younger, he clearly will get accolades and folks perceive and discuss what he did up to now and his involvement within the motion and all of that. However I don’t suppose folks perceive and totally give him the credit score for simply being how nice of a person he’s. And to your level, a person of religion. Folks need to divorce the religion of Dr. King from what he did. They need to divorce [him from his faith]. I may go on and on Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, even Marcus Garvey who [was] a Christian. Folks need to divorce or [history from faith]. They need to take a look at these nice actions of our ancestors and but and never take a look at the sources of their energy and the supply of their knowledge and the issues that they fought for and fought towards and said and so forth and so forth. And Ambassador Younger can also be like that. Ambassador Younger is a good man of religion. And I get that we must always deal with the opposite issues he talks about and the issues he fights for. And the whole lot’s not a non secular dialog. However I feel it’s important that folks perceive, particularly at the moment, the place religion is being marginalized. Christian religion has sustained us as a group and as a folks and is now being marginalized, tossed apart, watered down and issues like that. It’s necessary to see in an important man like Ambassador Younger that his religion has at all times been vibrant and to this present day is vibrant. And that that’s what motivated him and led him to have the ability to do and have the power to do what he did.
