I have a dream
So January 20, 2025 is 2 days away. Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” on August 28, 1963. My friend M and I were fortunate to be on the capital grounds for the 60th anniversary of the speech.
When I taught Sustainable Systems at Parsons, I would show his speech on the first day of class. We discussed manifestos, and how they are created precisely because a human goal has not been manifested: a manifesto is something we write to inspire us to work toward because we recognize we have not yet achieved it. The Declaration of Independence, too, is a manifesto requiring our tending. Democracy is not a promise. Democracy is a process that is as alive as its people.
Notably, Project 2025 is also a manifesto.
“The original brains-eating fiend was a slave not to the flesh of others but to his own. The zombie archetype, as it appeared in Haiti and mirrored the inhumanity that existed there from 1625 to around 1800, was a projection of the African slaves’ relentless misery and subjugation. … undead slaves at once denied their own bodies and yet trapped inside them—soulless zombies”
While it is feeling like I am surrounded by growing zombie-nation satisfied by a promise and a lick, we have so many strong souls who have made a real difference in our world. MLK’s speech is always a worthy reminder of our soul.
