Jesse Jackson marks Martin Luther King anniversary in Tottenham

Over 300 attended Operation Black Vote's and the Bernie Grants Art Centre's 50th year commemoration of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. The crowd, who had gathered at the Bernie Grants Art Centre in Tottenham, waited eagerly for the appearance of the great man himself. Something was afoot in the air, there was a real buzz of anticipation- were we really breathing the same air as the Revered that has led the Civil Rights Struggle for nearly 50 years?

As we waited we were treated to some rare, never before broadcasted footage of Dr Martin Luther King receiving an honorary degree in Law from the University of Newcastle. The ceremony took place a few months before his assassination- served as a powerful reminder about how different our worlds is now- but that we still have a long way to go. When King was about to receive his degree- the University chancellor, who presented the degree, told the crowd that Dr King was the first 'Negro' to receive a degree at that university. Just the use of the word 'Negro', shows us how far we have come in 40 years. But it was King's speech at the degree ceremony, which will live with all of us who watched the footage.

He called on civil rights all over the world and he also said that law was very important. King told the audience:

Changing laws might not make someone love me, but it will stop him from lynching me"

After the film had finished, director of Operation Black Vote, Simon Woolley, made the announcement that Revered Jesse Jackson was in the building. There was a huge standing-ovation and there he appeared, like Moses coming down the mountain, Revered Jesse Jackson stood before us. The crowd was ecstatic, people from all walks of life came to witness this event, young and old- there were three school groups in the crowd.

The Revered made the crowd chant "I can and I will vote, I will get equal access to health care, I will get an education and I will get access to employment". The message he delivered to the crowd was clear, we can achieve and we will achieve, but for us to achieve. We need to realize that our own future is in our hands, only we can change it. The ending of Apartheid in South Africa, did not happen because of high-class statesman, it ended because of ordinary working people in places like Tottenham marched in Trafalgar and demanded it be brought to an end.

But the message that will live with all of us was this:

Oppression is not the worst thing. Adjusting to oppression is. Accepting it is the worst thing"

Jackson told the audience that Dr King's Washington speech was not about a dream. It was about the Broken Promise- 100 years before that speech, President Lincoln signed the 'Emancipation Proclamation', which gave the slaves their freedom. They had gained freedom but not equality, at the time of Dr King's speech, African-Americans couldn't go to Public Libraries and had segregated bathrooms and many could not vote among other things. They set out to change that and change it they did, but they only changed it because of the millions of ordinary working people both black and white made it possible.

Jesse also highlighted the challenges facing young BME people in Britain today. 60% of black men in Britain are unemployed, a disproportionate number are incarcerated and only one in 5, 000 attends Oxford University. This cannot change unless BME people are willing to change it and they must change it now. There is a broken promise in Britain- the promise of equality has not been delivered and it is up to BME people to demand it. He told the audience, do not walk in Martin Luther King's shoes or Bernie Grant's shoes, but you must carry on. The Challenges are different today and it is up to the next generation to take it on.

Usman Butt