Little progress has been made on Martin Luther King Jr’s dream since his death over almost 48 years ago. In fact, by many measures we have been moving backwards as a country.  The #BlackLivesMatter movement turns three years old this summer and has exposed modern racism and police brutality.  

We can only hope that the increased awareness leads to change.  As Elizabeth Warren recently so well observed:

“I speak today with the full knowledge that I have not personally experienced and can never truly understand the fear, the oppression, and the pain that confronts African Americans every day. But none of us can ignore what is happening in this country. Not when our black friends, family, neighbors literally fear dying in the streets.

Listen to the brave, powerful voices of today’s new generation of civil rights leaders. Incredible voices. Listen to them say: “If I die in police custody, know that I did not commit suicide.” Watch them march through the streets, [chanting] “hands up don’t shoot”— not to incite a riot, but to fight for their lives. To fight for their lives. This is the reality all of us must confront, as uncomfortable and ugly as that reality may be. It comes to us to once again affirm that black lives matter, that black citizens matter, that black families matter.”