45 years ago today, in Washington, DC -- I have a dream

for Bayard Rustin -- and all the rest of us who remain "Brother -and Sister- Outsiders" -- who still don't have the opportunities, equality, and rights that others have -- and that we all deserve.

I am not worthy. Why can't I write pure Zen like this?

Martin Luther King Jr. walked down the middle of hostile streets, through crowds spewing hatred at him, howling for his blood; he faced down police bayonets and the power of the state. Now our modern-day heroes can't bear to allow a few critical words within 700 feet of their pampered selves.

He's talking about this, of course:

Protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver can be restricted to fenced-in areas, federal judge ruled on Wednesday, saying that security needs outweighed curbs on their rights...

Happy Martin Luther King day, peeps! Share your favorite quotes and stories about Black America* here. I'll go first, and this one is for you OFB folks who think it's ok to have homophobes on stage:

"There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity.... We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves."

When you leave me behind, that's not "unity." More here.