Equal chess rights for all

Somewhat surprisingly, chess made an appearance in Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's eulogy of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks:

"We will all say today that the greatest tribute that we could pay to our improbable warrior is to continue battling and to do so in a way that honors her life. And I, like you, imagine a day when the war will be won, when a brilliant 8-year-old chess player has the same chances in life, whether she lives in Lavonia, or off of Livernois."

It reminded me of the day Martin Luther King rose up on a podium in Washington, DC and addressed a similar set of concerns. I think it went something like this:

"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 scholastic chess players are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former masters and the sons of former c-players will be able to sit down together at a chess table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a chess-less state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of the sixty-four squares. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by how many times they receive the white pieces in a 5-round swiss but by the number of games that they win or lose. I have a dream today."

Some day, my friends. Some day soon.