Legends of Hope and Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnIozPJWTPM

I think you can make an argument that not only is the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s an important part of the American story, but that it is the single most American story of America.

That those Americans with dark skin that struggled for justice on the streets, in buses, in restaurants, in our capitols were the most pure, the most sublime instantiation of the spirit of America.

They didn't achieve equality. They didn't acquire what others had but for which they had been denied. No. They taught us what America is and should be.

Those who looked upon those marchers, these protestors, these leaders, could not help but feel their power and nobility. You couldn't help but feel proud of them. You couldn't help but feel empowered, wondering what you might accomplish when your strength met your love. You couldn't help but feel driven to imagine future worlds that for so long had been described as off limits to us.

You couldn't help but hope.