Rep. Sean CastenVerified account

He was assassinated the next day.

Today we celebrate his life. But more, we celebrate his vision of that promised land. Did he see the day when we would have an African American President? Did he see the day when we would swear in the most diverse freshman class in the history of the U.S Congress? I think he did.

And yet our nation is still sick. Trouble is still in the land. Privileged men of low character remain threatened by the realization of Dr. King’s dream. Those same men too often persist in the “cruel jest” of telling bootless men to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps.

We have made progress. But we still have far to go. Dr. King understood this, and was an optimist to the end.

When he told that crowd in Memphis that day that the world was messed up, it was only after acknowledging that if he could pick any time in human history to be alive, that is the time he would choose.

Not because we are perfect, but because we aspire to a more perfect union. Not because we have achieved true justice, but because it's a privilege to bear witness to history’s great arc.

Not because he was proud of leaders who were sitting down, but because he found hope in the masses who were rising up.