This coming Thursaday, will accept the nomination 45 years to the day after delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King’s moving address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial mobilized desegregation forces fighting for civil rights.

Many Afro-Americans have expressed that from their perspective the moment will have a great deal of meaning as it will signify that they are further down the road to achieving Dr. King’s dream.

I believe that the event’s significance will not be felt solely by the black population as it is truly an “American experience” because Barack Obama’s candidacy represents hope for better race relations and inclusion in an America that has not always been accepting of racial differences.

Barack Obama is the first black presidential candidate to lead a national party ticket and a historic moment, of monumental importance for black Americans. And just as  most Americans remember where they were the moment that JFK was assassinated, most black Americans remember where they were when Dr. Martin Luther King uttered the words,

"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 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 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 a table of brotherhood."

To many blacks too young to know the civil rights movement as anything but a subject taught in history class, Obama represents their King — a leader intent on breaking through racial barriers and taking them a step closer to equality.

Hard statistics are lacking, but University of Maryland political scientist Ronald Walters said exit polls and surveys show young blacks are turning out in record numbers, determined to make a difference.

In 2004 24.1 million people voted [in the Democratic primaries]. In 2008 primaries, 56 million voted. A lot of that was youth and a large percentage of that is black youth. An interesting statistic is that in some states, particularly in the South, black young people are voting more than young whites.

I’ll let you, the reader, intrepret exactly what that stat means to you.

KING’S “I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH

AROUND the BLOGOSPHERE:

King speech to Obama speech: A dream realized? - The Associated Press - King speech to Obama speech: A dream realized? The Associated Press - 52 minutes ago. But American politics has played on — and reflected — racial divisions, too. Since the 1960s, America’s two-party system has effectively been …

If Obama Loses Racism Is The Only Reason McCain Might Beat Him. - King speech to Obama speech: A dream realized? The Associated Press - Aug 22, 2008 But in the 4 1/2 decades since King’s speech, questions about the prevalence of racism in American life haven’t abated, with blacks and whites deeply . …

A dream reawakened: 45 years after King’s historic speech Obama … - Gregory Lewis Aug. 23, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) — Ketley Blaise Williams believes. The 50-year-old West Palm Beach businesswoman already has her plane ticket to Washington, D.

American Prayer - Dave Stewart Barack Obama New Music Video Lyrics … - I find it especially relevant that Barack Obama will accept the Democratic Party Nomination for President 45 years to the day of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. When we were originally writing the song, Bono was crafting the words in a …