The Dream Unfulfilled

Almost 60 Years After King’s Iconic Speech, Black America Remains Disenfranchised

January 17, 2021 – Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his legendary Lincoln Memorial “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, but many in Black America have forgotten his call for equality, a leading Civil Rights Movement music expert said.

September Penn, the musical director for Dr. Clayborne Carson, who was commissioned by King’s wife, Coretta, to edit her husband’s papers, said on the weekly Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields, the dream remains unfulfilled for too many.

“There was a bit of a façade, even in Black America,” Penn said. “It was if we made some strides, we attained voting rights, now there is affirmative action in place, and we were able to lift ourselves up a little more.”

“People got comfortable; it was a good 20 years,” Penn said. “Too many people got comfortable, so no, his dream was never completely realized.”

Penn has written Sounds of the Civil Rights Movement: The Power of Song, aimed at sparking racist conversations and promoting racial healing. Many in Black America have failed to pass the dream onto their children, she said.

“There was a generation of adults who wanted to save their children from the pain, so they stopped talking about it,” she said.

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Listen to the September Penn’s Retail Politics Podcast with Gerry Shields interview on Apple, Spotify, and retailpoliticspodcast.com