A Change is Gonna Come

There's been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh, yes it will

---Sam Cooke

Martin Luther King Day is not a recognized paid holiday in the film industry, and on several occasions I’ve had to work. I like to think Dr. King would be pleased to see an African-American woman working in a position of responsibility on multimillion dollar films.

Access to all opportunity for qualified people was part of the dream, after all. During his lifetime, the number of African-American members of the Directors Guild of America --- or members of Hispanic, Asian or First Nations descent, for that matter --- could be counted on two hands. Though women and minority numbers are still low, we are there, working major projects of all kinds. That's progress.

A change is gonna come.

I think he'd also be pleased that this year, the day after the holiday honoring his life, his work and his ideals, this country's first African-American president will be sworn in.

On Tuesday, January 20, Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States. I needn't go into the remarkable life history, and the even more remarkable set of circumstances, that led to his election. That information is now well known, and can be read in detail at the official site of the Obama - Biden transition team, Change.gov .

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.

--- The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Obama campaign showed much about how this man will handle challenge and controversy, but the months and years after his inauguration will show far more. How will we take his measure, as time goes by?

Despite the obstacles that still remain in extending equality to women and to racial, religious and sexual minorities, there has undoubtedly been progress towards that goal in the forty-five years since Dr. King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Something amazing happened on November 4, 2008. America voted across lines of age, class, color, and gender and elected Barack Obama on his own merits --- the content of his character.

And now the real work begins, for a nation and a world that cannot afford to be mired in past animosities, tied to policies built on lazy thinking or weighed down by the foolish habit of excluding alternative American voices.

A change is gonna come.

And, just perhaps, one of those changes will be to restore the constitutional freedoms that have been eroded during the past eight years. American freedoms that were hard won -- but far too easily set aside --- are the essence of "We the People of the United States."

The more perfect union is at hand, but it will not come easily. Perhaps Obama will begin by reminding us that we are one nation, one people, and we cannot prosper as us vs. them.

A change is gonna come.

That’s a wonderful thought to end this with, as we approach these days of dreams turned into action.


Happy Martin Luther King Day, everyone.

Congratulations, President Obama.



Read King’s Nobel lecture and hear an excerpt HERE at the Nobel Prize site.

Read King’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance speech HERE.


Find writings by and about Barack Obama at Amazon.com's Obama page.