Photo by philliefan99.Mayor and DCist commenter Vince Gray has never been afraid to dive headfirst into the (occasionally shallow) social media pool. So it’s hardly surprising that the man who is using the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial as an excuse to drive hard to the hoop for voting rights is asking Facebook and Twitter users to join in. But we would have figured that a simple hashtag would have sufficed.
Instead, Gray is asking Facebook and Twitter users to copy and paste an excerpt from King’s iconic August 28, 1963 “I Have A Dream” address to their walls and feeds at 8:28 a.m. tomorrow morning. (Oh, the symbolism!)
Below is the full text of the letter Gray sent to residents, asking them to clog the hell out of your social media network of choice in the name of autonomy:
On August 28, 1963, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his immortal “I Have a Dream” speech. That day he talked about cashing in on a “promissory note” of democracy, written by our nation’s Founding Fathers, “to which every American was to fall heir.” And on that same day he declared to the world, “now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.”
Sadly, 48 years later, the District of Columbia is home to 600,000 Americans who still don’t have a voting representative in our own Congress. We are Americans who pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year in federal taxes — just like others who do enjoy voting rights; Americans who serve on federal juries — just like others who enjoy voting rights; and Americans who send their sons, daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters to fight America’s wars in far-away places — wars authorized and funded by a Congress in which we have no vote. Nearly half a century after Dr. King’s famous speech, the United States of America is the only democratic nation in the world to deny representation to the residents of its capital city. His dream is unfulfilled for us.
As Mayor of the District of Columbia, I am asking local and national leaders, District residents and all others who support Dr. King’s dream to post the following message on their Facebook and Twitter pages at 8:28 a.m., Tuesday August 23rd:
Dr. King said “now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.” I demand full democracy for D.C. residents!
If you care about justice, freedom and democracy, please take a stand with District residents by posting the demand for full democracy and join me Saturday, August 27th at Freedom Plaza for the D.C. Full Democracy Freedom Rally and March.
