Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.

One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four 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. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

(Delivered on the Lincoln Memorial steps in Washington D.C., August 28, 1963.)

Every day on my way to work I drive by the corner of Gale and Forrest Hill, glancing at the corner to see if Velvet Freeze has reopened yet. I used to go there for lunch semi-regularly.

The past several days, there’s been a new sign out in front of Velvet Freeze: For Lease.

Yes, they’ve been successfully and efficiently driven out of business. All it took was a few brilliant moves:

1. Tear up the street so people start avoiding the intersection, and keep it torn up for two years. If that doesn’t work, then:
2. Completely obstruct the entrance so no one can get in or out for several months. And just to make sure no one comes back:
3. Permanently obstruct the parking lot so that, even if they did try to reopen, no one would be able to park there.

It was number three that was the coup de grâce. It used to be that there was diagonal parking right off the westbound lane of Forrest Hill at the corner of Gale. You could just pull right up to the restaurant and park. Now, with the new and improved corner, they’ve put in a tall concrete curb, set back to make the turning radius onto Gale comfortable enough for people to speed by the restaurant without even seeing it — and making the “parking lot” for the restaurant as small and difficult to access as possible. Perfect.

From the looks of that little strip mall, Velvet Freeze isn’t the only business that couldn’t stay up and running. Except for the laundromat, everything else looks closed as well.

But, look at the bright side. Basic services people like me should be happy because they’re fixing roads in the older neighborhoods, and now we have a nice new… oh, wait, … they’re still not quite done yet….

I’m just getting redirected to this page, which says “This account has been suspended; please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.”

UPDATE 6 p.m.: Peoria Pundit is back up, and has a very interesting post on where Congressman Ray LaHood gets his campaign money. A must-read.

Here’s something interesting.

The City of Peoria recently voted to annex 715 acres of land — the largest annexation since Peoria added Richwoods Township to the city. Developers are planning to create new subdivisions on this property that will eventually add a total of 1,408 dwelling units. As of June 2004, it was reported that there are 41,300 households in the city. Adding 1,408 more is an increase of 3.4%.

The 2006 budget calls for the city to spend $56,029,955 on police, fire, and public works combined. If we assume that those costs will need to increase by the same percentage as the number of dwelling units/households, we can times that figure by 3.4%. The result? $1,905,018.47. We can call it $1.9 million for easy reference.

Will this new addition to the city pay for itself? According to the city’s study, the new dwelling units will have a market value of $450 million (that would be an average of $319,600 per dwelling unit, incidentally), and this would result in an increase in tax revenue of — are you ready for this? — $1.9 million.

So, theoretically, it will break even from a city-services perspective. That means it will not give the city any net gain. It also won’t help us put a truck back into service at Fire Station 11. And it won’t do District 150 any good, but will infuse Dunlap School District 323 with lots of property tax money.

When will the city learn that we cannot annex ourselves into prosperity? We’ve tried. Over and over. And over. It doesn’t work.

I’ve been reading about the controversy over possible pay raises for Peoria Public School District 150 administrators Dr. Fischer and Dr. Hannah. Bill Dennis — who originally broke the story two days before it was picked up by the Journal Star — has another post on it today, and I added my comments to it.

You may remember that this all started when the district booted out Kay Royster. They hired Chuck Fabish out of retirement to be interim superintendent. He quit at the end of 2004. Everyone wanted Deputy Superintendent Ken Hinton to have the top job, but he wasn’t qualified; i.e., he didn’t have state certification. So the school board appointed Dr. Fischer and Dr. Hannah as co-interim-superintendents who were legally the top dogs, but the deputy superintendent (Hinton) actually took care of the day-to-day duties of the district business. Meanwhile, Hinton attended Western Illinois University to get his superintendent certification. In July 2005, he was certified and made permanent superintendent of District 150.

Now, what’s the fate of the co-interim superintendents, Drs. Fischer and Hannah? Well, I found this tidbit in the official District 150 minutes (available online here):

“REPORT FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT — Mr. Hinton expressed that he would like to thank Dr. Fischer and Dr. Hannah for stepping forward and that he was pleased to recommend that they be named Associate Superintendents. Ms. Butler stated that she appreciated all the reports they have prepared and that their primary interest is the students. Mrs. Ross stated that she supports the recommendation, but would like job descriptions before they change titles. Mr. Hinton reported that the administrators would have more job responsibilities and their job descriptions are being prepared.” (7/1/2005)

It seems clear from this information that the position of “Associate Superintendent” never existed prior to July 2005 and was created specifically for Drs. Fischer and Hannah. That sort of thing has always been looked down upon at every private company I’ve worked for. You don’t create a position for a particular person. That aside, I could not find anywhere in the subsequent minutes any mention of the job description being completed.

Why does this matter? Because, whatever the job description and additional responsibilities they are supposed to have, it supposedly is worth a salary increase of 28% more than what they were making as co-interim-superintendents. For a school district strapped for funds, planning to close schools, and maintaining a wage freeze for other administrators, this does not look good to the public. It also doesn’t look good that it took a Freedom of Information Act request from a private citizen to bring the situation to light. If these raises are defensible, why the secrecy?

At least one person has speculated that they could be trying to boost their pensions. As you may know, under the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois, pensions are 75% percent of a member’s final average salary (“the average salary for the highest 4 consecutive years within the last 10 years of creditable service,” according to P.A. 91-0927). That means that Drs. Fischer and Hannah, who according to the Journal Star’s report made more than $92,200 as principals when they entered administration in the fall of 2004, could (if they qualify for full pensions — I don’t know this for sure, but I would guess they will) receive an annual pension of at least $97,500 (75% of $130,000) if this pay raise goes through and they retire after four years.

The school board has yet to vote on the pay hikes. If they plan to vote in favor of the hikes, it would be in their best interests to reveal and defend the new job descriptions and accompanying pay increases. Otherwise there will be speculation, rumor, and general public distrust for the school district that it can’t afford in addition to all its other problems.

Communication from the City Manager and Corporation Counsel Requesting Adoption of an ORDINANCE Proposing the ESTABLISHMENT of GROWTH CELL 1-A SPECIAL SERVICE AREA, Proposing the ISSUANCE of BONDS, in an Amount Not to Exceed $6 Million, for the Purpose of Paying the Cost of Providing Special Services in and for Such Area, and SETTING a PUBLIC HEARING for FEBRUARY 14, 2006, at 6:15 P.M.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the new website on Museum Square (hat tip to the Journal Star’s midday update for the link):

http://www.peoriamuseumsquare.com/

Macromedia Flash is required to view the site. There’s general info on the front page, plus two more pages with artists’ renderings — one of the “Central Illinois Regional Museum” and one of the “Caterpillar Visitor Center.”

Initial observations:

It’s very pretty, isn’t it? It looks unique, and I especially like the picture where the whole structure glows at night on the riverfront.

However, it’s not what one would call “urban.” And it definitely isn’t consistent with the surrounding architecture. Clearly, the whole idea of New Urbanism and the Heart of Peoria Plan were thrown out the glass arcade when this was designed. Here’s the “crown jewel” spot in Peoria and there’s no hint of the plan the council voted to follow “in principle.” Oh, I take that back — they did put the parking (which is not needed) underground. Here’s my suggestion: if the council is not going to actually follow the advice of the high-priced consultants they hire, please just save us the money and stop hiring them.

My other concern is the name: “Central Illinois Regional Museum.” I thought we were going to have a Peoria History Museum. Isn’t that how this project was sold? In fact, wasn’t the whole block going to be a Peoria History Museum? Why can’t we call it that? Who decided to change it? Are we changing the content of the museum to include the history of other communities? Are those communities contributing any money toward the construction of this “regional” museum? Which other communities are encompassed by “Central Illinois”? Galesburg? Bloomington? Lincoln? Decatur? Putnam County? What precisely is the vision for this museum?

I can’t help but notice there are no pictures of the inside of the Central Illinois Regional Museum, but there are numerous pictures of the inside of the Caterpillar Visitor Center (and it looks like there’s a lot of very interesting, interactive content). I suppose that says something about where the architects are spending most of their time at this point. Not surprising, since Cat is fronting a hefty amount of the money for Museum Square.

Well, I’m sorry I’m not more excited about it. But frankly, if I’m a tourist, I’m not going to be drawn to the “Central Illinois Regional Museum” anymore than I would go to the “Central Montana Regional Museum” or the “Central Iowa Amalgamated Museum.” Furthermore, I wouldn’t look for the “Central Illinois Regional Museum” in Peoria. I’d look for it in a more central location, like Bloomington — right next to the Central Illinois Regional Airport.

I wonder whatever happened to Peorians’ civic pride. Perhaps we should rewrite “Peoria Pride,” our official city song. All together now: “Oh I’m proud to live in Central Illinois . . . .”

UPDATE: I found artists’ renderings of the inside of the Central Illinois Regional Museum on the Journal Star’s Special Sections website. Why they’re not included in the peoriamuseumsquare.com site, I don’t know.

There’s an interesting story in the Neighbors section of the Journal Star today. Apparently there’s a walking path in the East Bluff that runs between Frye and Thrush. Usually when the Journal Star writes about walking paths, it’s always a positive thing. Walking paths add quality-of-life to the city, they say. They make it more liveable and more attractive to young urban professionals who might want to work at Renaissance Park (f.k.a. the Med-Tech District). We need more, more, more walking paths in the city!

Yet this story isn’t positive at all. The city and park district aren’t praising this walking path. In fact, they want to close it down! I read with incredulity:

Over the years however, as the community has been taken over by gangs and people in the drug trade, the walkway has become a haven for those seeking to evade police or to easily carry out their clandestine activities.

Huh. Imagine a walkway being used by gangs and drug dealers for nefarious activities. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but at the same time the city is removing this short, troubled path from the East Bluff, isn’t the park district working to build a long walking path that will connect Taft Homes with the near north side and eventually meet up with the Rock Island Trail? Does anyone think that maybe, just maybe, there might be a similarity between these two trails, particularly where they traverse a community that’s been “taken over by gangs and people in the drug trade”? Is anyone connecting the dots here?

I’m just asking.