Reflection on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream

When I was in middle school, I remember completing a school assignment to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. The assignment was to write our own I Have A Dream speech and recite it for the class. I don't remember the content of my I Have A Dream speech, but I remember it being so powerful and compelling that the whole class looked at me in amazement, and no one wanted to go after me. That was a great moment of consciousness and awareness for and in me. My mother always made sure that we learned our African American History, and kept books and resources around the house. Somewhere along my adolescent years, I forgot and stopped caring. Somewhere between the beats of music that had lyrics that make little to no sense, poor choices in relationships,and striving to gratify my own desires, I lost site of my dream. The dream for advancement for all people, especially those who suffer hurt, harm, and injustice. I never fully knew Martin Luther King's dream. I thought his dream was about racial equality and people being judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. I thought it was about black people gaining more material rights and freedom. Judging by the looks of things today, I think a lot of people think the same thing. But has everyone that celebrate Martin Luther King ever read or heard the entire I Have A Dream speech? Or really studied his life or the Civil Rights Movement? Probably Not. The focus of the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King was about much more than that. People died, suffered, and risked all not just so that they could be treated fairly but so that generations to come would experience the freedom we have today and more. Their actions were not selfish but selfless. Today some of us feel like we have arrived. Instead of living to leave a legacy for our children's children. We live to feed our children until they are old enough to feed themselves. We live to gratify our flesh, thinking that the work has been accomplished when in reality, the progress of our ancestors labor has been stagnated by our own ignorance and selfishness. There is more to life than fresh beats, nice kicks, disrespecting one another, living pay check to pay check, eating Mcdonald's, dancing and falling out in church, climbing the corporate latter, being the token black person of an organization, and living to survive among other things. So many people, our people, our ancestors didn't die and suffer so that we could cash the "check for inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" just to waste it all on unprofitable things and gain that bring no return once it's all said and done. This civil rights check that gives us the freedom we experience today to vote, get a good education, own businesses, have more material wealth, desegregate, pursue dreams, remove limits, etc. was a seed sowed into our generations as a faithful deposit so that it could flourish and multiply for all mankind especially the African American race to continue to progress throughout history, leaving a legacy of strong character, moral, faith, unity, selflessness, and love for all. I hated history when I was growing up because I thought it was sooooooo boring, but my momma always said that I had to know my history to know where I am going. As I move forward I recapture the essence of Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream. A Dream not just to gain, but to give a better quality of life for all mankind as we dwell together upholding the fruits of the Spirit: peace, love, joy, long-suffering, kindness, gentleness, and humility. I pray that if you are reading this that you choose to move forward with me in fulfilling the dream for though it is attainable it has yet to be fully accomplished.

To see Dr. King's full I Have A Dream speech visit the link below:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's I Have A Dream Speech