Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Thanks-Giving Square Host the "Let Freedom Ring!" Ceremony to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" Speech

Dallas, TX – (Thursday, August 29, 2013) –  On Wednesday, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Thanks-Giving Square hosted the “Let Freedom Ring!” bell-ringing ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The program was held at Thanks-Giving Square Chapel from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CST. The ceremony included a reading of “I Have a Dream” speech by leaders of different faiths, and a keynote address by NAACP State President Gary Bledsoe.

“It’s now a false sense that it’s a fight between blacks and whites,” said Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. “It’s not. It’s a fight between justice and injustice. Our battle is as strong today as it was 50 years ago. It has as much to do with ideology as it does with the color of our skin. Until we all work together, we won’t achieve the dream.”

NAACP State President Gary Bledsoe said, “There are people that are working actively to do everything they can to deny us our rights.”

Across the world, people of all races and religions participated in bell-ringing ceremonies of their own to celebrate and advance the dream. The King Center encouraged organizations all throughout the world to ring their bell at 3 p.m. EST to symbolize the human unity that was the core of Dr. King’s message.

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  U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a Ranking member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Kessler Park, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, South Dallas & South Oak Cliff; all of Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Ferris, Glenn Heights, South Grand Prairie, Oak Lawn, Ovilla, Uptown/Victory Park and West Dallas.