My Country 'tis of Thee...

"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!"

I'm sorry this picture isn't clearer. It was on the front page of my NY Times and immediately brought tears to my eyes. I didn't weep because the picture was sad, I wept because the picture says we're finally about to give Pastor King a spot on the lawn of the Great Washington D.C.

I was only a toddler when Pastor King was murdered but after entering school I learned about him and other civil rights workers every year. This picture makes me feel really good about my country. Yeah I know all about the great Divide, and all the other ills we have but you know what? We're still in one of the greatest countries in the world.

So, to all of us who still hope one day to see a unified U.S.A., and still consider this a great country, let me end with another great patriotic message... "And I’m proud to be an American where as least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the U.S.A!"