Today we are living the proverbial dream

To the editor:

Martin Luther King Jr. was tragically murdered before his 40th birthday because he had the courage to stand up for the rights of Americans, no matter their race, ethnicity, sexual preference or gender. As I recall from my parents’ and grandparents’ stories – not history books – this man eloquently described the plight of those who were actively discriminated against, including the poor.

I was born in the same year Dr. King was assassinated. My grandmother told me many years later that she believed I would live in a much better world because this man thought about more than his own wife and children. He sacrificed his own personal agenda to do God’s work. He graduated from Moorehouse College in 1948 at the age of 19. Today that would afford him the opportunity to do so much more than it would have during his era.

My father, Bobby Newsome, passed away in 2009 after proudly voting for this nation’s first African-American president, Barack Obama. On Election Day in 2008, as I was entering a cab to return to Las Vegas, my father was on his way to the polls. He told my niece and nephew, “This day is going to make history. Your life and world will be much better than the one I lived in.” A few months later, I would attend the presidential inauguration with my mother, nephew and niece, and without my father due to his illness.

Amazingly, 40 years after the assassination of Dr. King and my birth, we were watching a new phase of the dream.

Today my children are living the proverbial dream. They don’t have to believe in diversity because they live diversity. I am attending the presidential inauguration with my mom, nephew and niece for the second time. Once again, God, in his infinite wisdom and humor, has this day fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the same place where he made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech almost 50 years ago.

My grandmother was right. I do live in a much better world because of the sacrifices of Martin Luther King Jr. and many others. Also, I believe that my father’s insight is correct: Although President Obama’s legacy is still to be written, there is an infinite hope extended to Dr. King’s dream through his current accomplishments. I am blessed to be a part of this history.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

SHAUNDELL NEWSOME

HENDERSON

Bypassing Congress

To the editor:

On Jan. 12, the Review-Journal reported “Reid urges Obama to bypass Congress on debt.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants President Obama to consider bypassing Congress to raise the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling. It looks like Sen. Reid wants America to move toward a dictatorship.

I believe Sen. Reid’s reasoning has some merit. We could eliminate the do-nothing House of Representatives and the Senate, along with their support staff, saving many millions of dollars. It seems that during the Obama administration, there have been too many executive orders issued, bypassing the duties of Congress. That clearly implies to me that the do-nothing Congress is no longer needed. And everybody knows that a dictatorship is the most efficient way of governing.

That’s why there are so many surviving dictatorships in this world. Or maybe I have them confused with democracies.

JAMES J. BAUMBERGER

LAS VEGAS