Remembering a Remarkable Man

“His dreams were the natural reflex of hope and redeemed curiosity.” ― Michael Eric Dyson, April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America

On this day, it is my hope that everyone takes a few moments to reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Through his actions of leading nonviolent protests and the ability to galvanize people with his messages of hope and equality, Dr. King symbolized the sacred mission of this nation that “all men are created equal”.

As a nation, we are truly a better people because of the courage, faith and perseverance of Dr. King and his moral path of ending segregation and racial injustice. He preached tolerance to all, asking everyone to love their enemy, even when his and his family’s lives were in constant jeopardy. Dr. King stood on the front line of one of the most divisive times in American history, and because of him, this nation was led to a better Union.

Dr. King’s messages of brotherhood and equality still echo today, and his contributions will continue to inspire unborn individuals for generations to come. Had he not been assassinated on April 4, 1968 he would have been 84 years old. Posted below is his 1963 public speech “I Have a Dream”, which was delivered in front of a crowd of approximately 200,000 civil rights supporters during a rally in Washington D.C. in front of the Lincoln Memorial.



Full text to the "I Have a Dream" speech:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will 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.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

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!"

Media Alert: On the Air with Fox 25

Later tonight I will be interviewed by Fox 25 News Reporter Sharman Sacchetti to discuss my thoughts of today’s arrest of state crime lab chemist Sonja Farak , and why I have filed legislation seeking a forensic services drug laboratory oversight board.  Please tune in to tonight’s 10:00pm and 11:00pm news to see my interview.

Also, tomorrow morning at 7:45am I will be providing a live interview with the Fox 25 morning news crew to further discuss my proposed forensic services drug laboratory oversight board legislation.  To learn more about my bill, please click here to read a previous blog post, and don’t forget to tune in tomorrow morning to watch our lively discussion.

On the Air with Fox 25

Yesterday I was interviewed by Fox 25 News Reporter Sharman Sacchetti regarding legislation I am filing that would offer major reforms to the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). Some details of the bill include:

• the requirement and authorization for law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to communicate with the SORB in a timely fashion about the commitment of subsequent offenses by a registered sex offender;

• the legal authority of the SORB to re-classify sex offenders based on new information, which was taken away by the Massachusetts Court of Appeals on July 16, 2012 in its ruling in the case of John Doe 16748 v. Sex Offender Registry Board (Docket Number 11-P-308);

• the ability of the SORB to expedite the re-classification process of a sexual offender upon the recommendation of law enforcement and prosecutors;

• the requirement for the timely re-classification of sex offenders who have committed subsequent offenses; and

• the making of Level 1 sex offenders’ information available to the public. To view Sharman’s report please play the posted video below.

Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

Media Alert: On the Air with Fox 25

Earlier today I was interviewed by Fox 25 reporter Sharman Sacchetti regarding a bill that I am filing this legislative session that would enact reforms regarding the Sexual Offender Registration Board (SORB), and our system of classifying and registering sex offenders.  The legislation will include making more information available to the public, greater communication between law enforcement officials and the board, and the authority for the board to reclassify offenders based on new information or offenses. 

Today’s interview will air during tonight’s 6:00pm news broadcast and again at 10:00pm.  Be sure to tune in tonight to see Sharman’s report.

Statement on Governor’s State of the State Address

Tonight I released the follow statement regarding Governor Patrick’s State of the State address where he announced a plan to raise the state income tax to 6.25% to fund transportation and education initiatives:

Tonight we saw an ambitious plan to dramatically increase state spending, and the corresponding tax burden on the citizens of Massachusetts.  Transportation and education are important priorities that we all share, but those priorities come in the context of an uncertain economic recovery, a state budget is wrestling with a gap of $540 million, and too many people that are unemployed or underemployed.

We need to have a discussion that first focuses on what we need, what state government has already committed to, and what people can afford.  Only then can we have a serious debate about revenue.

When we do, we all need to realize that changing tax rates isn’t the only way to increase revenue.  Building a stronger economy with more taxpayers is also important, and we need to fully understand the adverse impacts a nearly $2 billion tax increase will have on the economic growth we need for the sustainable revenue to fund priorities like transportation and education.

Senate GOP Caucus Calls for State Drug Lab Oversight Board

     This week the Massachusetts Senate Republican Caucus will be filing legislation calling for the creation of a forensic services drug laboratory oversight board within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security to help prevent a recurrence of the problems that were exposed at the state drug lab following the criminal investigation of rogue chemist Annie Dookhan.

     Dookhan is currently facing 27 counts of tampering with drug evidence while working at the state lab in Jamaica Plain between 2003 and 2012, compromising thousands of cases and resulting in a number of convictions being overturned. Dookhan has pled not guilty to the charges.

     Dookhan’s actions have exposed a systemic failure in the operation of the state drug lab which demands that we take immediate action to ensure that both public safety and the prosecution of drug-related crimes are not compromised.

     The proposed five-member board – which will have oversight authority over all state facilities engaged in forensic services in criminal investigations – will consist of the secretary of public safety and security, the attorney general, the inspector general, the colonel of state police, or their designees, along with one appointee from the Governor. The undersecretary of public safety for forensic sciences will advise and report to the board on the administration and delivery of forensic services at such facilities.

     We need to create a new infrastructure of oversight, accountability, transparency and integrity, and this legislation will accomplish these goals.

     The Caucus proposal requires that each forensic services facility be fully and actively accredited with the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board and compliant with standards promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The bill requires:

• Quarterly reports from the undersecretary of public safety for forensic sciences that will include, but not be limited to, information regarding:

     - The volume of forensic services at each facility;
     - The volume of forensic services of each employee at such facilities;
     - The costs and length of time from submission for testing or procedures and the return of results from such facilities;
     - Compliance with accreditation standards of such facilities; and
     - Facility employee records, qualifications, and incident reports.

• A minimum of one public oversight hearing per year for the board to receive testimony relative to the operations of state laboratories;

• A system to receive complaints or tips about potential problems at a state laboratory via telephone and e-mail;

• Certification that all state laboratories are accredited in accordance with the other requirements of the bill; and

• The timely reporting of suspected or potential criminal wrongdoing to the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution.

Media Alert: On the Air with NECN

Earlier today I was interviewed by NECN Reporter Allison King regarding Governor Patrick’s latest announcement in calling for an increase in educational spending over the next several years. His plan could require as much as $1.57 billion in new revenue next year.

Please tune in to tonight’s NECN News Broadcast to see today’s interview.