ERNIE BROWN JR. MLK's dream at 40: Much has changed, but work remains

I don't remember exactly what I was doing Aug. 28, 1963, but, as an 11-year-old, I was probably playing baseball on Bruce Street with my brother, Mark, and neighborhood friends Tim and Danny Drummond, Tommy Frew or Earl and Butch McCrae, riding my bike, or playing with toy trucks with Arthur "Sonny" Henneman.
One of the things I do recall, however, was going into my house, making a mild ruckus, and being quieted by my grandmother, Ina Woodbridge. She and my mother were glued to the television set listening to a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Granny told me to sit still and listen to this man she called "another Moses."
I knew about Dr. King and his civil rights efforts, but he was saying something about a dream, and, to be honest, playtime was a little more important, especially with school starting in about a week. So I left.
I now regret I didn't stay and listen to all of one of the greatest speeches ever given in this country.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The impact of that speech was life changing. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would follow a few months later, and life for black people in this country would change for the better.
Remember the trailblazers
There will be thousands of newspaper column inches and hours of television time devoted to the standing of black people in America 40 years later. I'm getting my two cents in first.
There is no doubt that many black Americans are much better off now than they were in 1963. Blacks have made monumental strides in politics, entertainment, business, education and several other walks of life. So much so, that many younger blacks have forgotten who paved the way for them to become today's bank presidents or rap stars.
Sadly, many young blacks know more about Beyonc & eacute;, 50 Cent, Nelly and Ludacris, than they do about Roy Wilkins, Whitney M. Young Jr., Medgar Evers, A. Philip Randolph and Shirley Chisholm.
That is the fault of my generation for not passing on to the next one the importance of the achievements of those trailblazers.
Black history should never be restricted to just the month of February. It is something that should be taught constantly because the struggle for fairness and equality on all fronts -- the basic message of Dr. King's speech -- continues in the 21st century.
It is hard for my children to fathom that blacks were jailed, beaten and killed for trying to vote, eat in public restaurants, or trying to buy a house in the suburbs. But it happened. That must never be forgotten.
The black family
I can't believe that Dr. King would have imagined that the black family would be under such stress as it has since 1963.
While education levels and incomes are up, black families are still challenged, Marc Morial, National Urban League president, said in a recent edition of The Vindicator.
The theme of the National Urban League conference in Pittsburgh this week was "The Black Family: Building on its Resilience."
Racism continues in America, and that has been a contributing factor to instability in the black family, UL officials say.
But there are other factors adding to that instability, including continued high teen pregnancy rates (black teens are three times more likely to have out-of-wedlock children than white teens), high incarceration rates of black men, and above-average unemployment rates (June unemployment statistics show the national unemployment rates for whites was 5.5 percent, but 11.8 for blacks).
Despite those obstacles, the black family keeps bouncing back. I attribute that to grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts, uncles and other members of the extended family making sure the family does not fall apart entirely.
Dr. King said on that August day in 1963 that he dreamed that his four children would one day live in a nation "where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
That day is getting closer, but it has not arrived. There still is much work to be done.
ebrown@vindy.com