Dick Durbin: “yesterday Americans once again paused to remember a great and prophetic leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.…”

“yesterday Americans once again paused to remember a great and prophetic leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Chances are, you heard a snippet yesterday of Dr. King's immortal ``I Have a Dream'' speech. Maybe you heard a tape of Dr. King dreaming of that day when ``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.'' That is the Martin Luther King, Jr., that we like to remember: the dreamer. But Dr. King did more than inspire us. He challenged us. And he challenges us still. Dr. King told us about his dream for America in 1963. He was murdered in 1968. In the 5 years between the March on Washington and his death, Dr. King's mission--and his challenges to us--grew. Like the prophet he was, in his final years, Dr. King spoke more and more frequently and forcefully about injustice. Many of the injustices that Dr. King spoke of remain with us today. Some are even greater today than when Dr. King died. Three years after Dr. King's assassination, the writer Carl Wendell Hines penned a poem which he entitled, ``A Dead Man's Dream.'' These are his words: Now that he is safely dead let us praise him Build monuments to his glory, sing hosannas to his name. Dead men make such convenient heroes. They cannot rise to challenge the images we would fashion from their lives. And besides, it is easier to build monuments than to make a better world.…”