The Bronx Museum just launched an exhibition called The Road to Freedom, a stunning collection of photographs from the Civil Rights era of 1956-1968. These powerful images remind us of Dr. Martin Luther King’s message that the road to freedom was destined to be long and hard. But so long as we kept our faith and determination, that rough and rugged road would finally lead us to the promised land.

Dr. King was a true leader on the path. He blazed a trail for all of us. But the real power of these images is their message that Dr. King wasn’t alone as he walked the rugged path to freedom. On the road to Washington, and from Selma to Montgomery, and through bricks, bottles and bloodshed in Chicago, hundreds of thousands of feet bravely marched just one step behind him.

When Dr. King told us we’d get to the promised land, he didn’t just mean one of us, or a select few. He meant every single one of us.  Two years ago we passed a historic milestone by putting Barack Obama in the White House. Just like Dr. King, Obama didn’t do it alone. He did it with millions of feet just step behind him. But the journey didn’t end when Obama stepped into the Oval Office. The President needs help to take our community still closer to the promised land.

We still face many roadblocks. A dysfunctional Congress. A devastated economy. Half our minority students dropping out before finishing high school. 25% unemployment among minorities in many cities. One in ten black men in our national prison system. We still have many steep hills to climb.

The best way to honor those Civil Rights heroes is to carry forward the torch they passed. To stand on their shoulders and lead our community further down the road to freedom. We are the children of the dreamers. The children of those who dared to imagine freedom ringing. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to lead today and keep the dream alive.

TAGS: Civil Rights, The Bronx Museum, The Road to Freedom