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August 28--On the forty-fifth anniversary of Rev, Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech and the fourth anniversary of PDA’s emergence, visitors to Progressive Central witnessed an array of speakers and surprise visitors who articulated the energy and efforts that constitute the progressive antiwar and accountability emphases of PDA.
The day started with a surprise visit by Reverend Jesse Jackson, who made possible a new rainbow politics in America. Jackson reminded the crowd at Progressive Central that no matter how progressive the American president or congress is or will ever be, there will also always be the need for citizen activism. Jackson, who picked up King’s torch to lead the Rainbow Coalition, talked about the advancement of civil rights in the U.S. in the past forty years. He remarked that while the nation has moved forward, our accomplishments were relatively cheap—it cost us nothing to allow African Americans the vote or to sit on the front of the bus and at lunch counters. On the day that Barack Obama was to become the first African American nominee for president, the cost would increase in terms of our work to create real change in America by ensuring Obama’s election, and a shift in our American values. Jackson said, “We must outwork them in the trenches.”
Following Rev. Jackson in the second surprise visit of the day, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) reminded the audience, many of whom came to PDA after Kucinich’s presidential run in 2004, that spying, eavesdropping, opening private mail and health records, and torture are not what was contemplated by the Constitution, which must remain inviolate. Kucinich reminded us that “the Constitution is the inheritance of the American people and it must be reclaimed.”
The subject matter of the panels on the final day of Progressive Central was restoring and maintaining the U.S. Constitution. Panelists included Rep. Robert Wexler (D -FL), member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN); Victor Navasky, editor emeritus of The Nation Magazine; Steve Cobble, Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and PDA Advisory board member; Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator United for Peace and Justice; and Jamie Raskin, Maryland State Senator, Law Professor at American University.
Wexler talked about the need to advocate for impeachment in order to expose the illegal use of torture, the politicization of the Justice Department, the manipulation of intelligence to bring us into an illegal war, the abuse of power with respect to executive privilege, and the Bush administration’s refusal to answer to Congress. And while we may not get to impeachment, said Wexler, we must use the power of contempt to get the administration to answer to the American people.
Ellison came to the House of Representatives in 2006, the first Muslim elected to the Congress. He advocated for the arrest of Karl Rove for contempt of Congress and for the continued push for impeachment of the Vice President and the President.
The third surprise guest, Ron Kovic, author of “Born On the Fourth of July,” was paralyzed from the chest down 40 years ago in Vietnam. Kovic, who was in Denver to participate in the protest of the war in Iraq, noted that although we are proud to be Americans, we are also citizens of the world.
The essence of this day was captured by Reverend Jackson when quoting President Franklin Roosevelt addressing a group of social activists who visited his offices, “I agree with everything you said. Now go out and make me do it.”
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