The Dream Remembered

Fifty years ago, on this date he stood at a podium on the National Mall and gave a riveting speech. It wasn't done for praise, pomp or to boost his ego. He spoke about something that was near and dear to his heart - a change that he wanted to see, and believed was possible in the country of his birth. He let outsiders into his dream and hoped they would share the desire and work to make it a reality. 

Fifty years ago, thousands of individuals gathered to hear this speech. They held hands and marched for a common cause - equality. Some were lighter than others, older than others, but the differences didn't matter. The importance was in the message. It was a peaceful march, it was a memorable march.

Fifty years later and here we are as a nation doing the "two-step," (progressing and regressing). We move forward with college availability and backwards with education accessibility and equality. Dr. King fought for blacks to be treated with dignity and today’s rappers seem to glorify misogyny. If we don’t do our part, an entire generation will be lost to “twerking,” “sagging pants,” and the inability to form sentences without “txtn shrtcts.”

 We need to work harder at the dream, before it becomes vaporized into the abyss of mediocre living. We need to work harder on being positive role models for those who we nurture. We need to do our part, because the dream is still not a reality.