Monday, January 21, 2008

The Legacy of Dr. King


Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I too have a dream and it includes a Native American as president. My dream is that the day will come when a man or woman of any race running for president will be as common as a morning cup of coffee.
My dream is that one day this government will wake up and address Native American issues with all the vigor that it reserves for the rest of the population of this great nation. These people deserve so much more and it is not just because of what they were put through but because they are our brethren, our brothers and sisters born of the same creator and as such deserve so much more than what they’ve been given. My dream is that someday the powers that be will wake up and pour more money into education and social programs than we do into war so that everyone has a chance at an equal education. That the quality of education is not dedicated by zip codes.

My dream is that each and every member of our society unlike our founding fathers will take these words to heart, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” My dream is that everyone in this nation realize that these words are applicable to all the members of our society…. male, female, immigrant,Native American, gay, and hetero.

My dream is that one day soon the color of our skin, or the name by which we call our God, that our ethnicticity will not cause people to judge that instead we will be judged by the contents of our heart and not by what we are. My dream is that this beautiful and generous nation made up of everything from Muslim to Jew, Native American to Egyptian, Irish to Spanish that this nation encompassing a miniature world on its shores will remember and heed the many words of Dr. King among them “we cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.”

Several days ago a group of friends and I were discussing Martin Luther King Day and one of the girls who just happened to be white asked out loud about his legacy. She didn’t agree with the rest of us that his had been a lasting legacy. She wanted to know my opinion as a minority of what Dr. King’s legacy had been other than the historically obvious one. In response to her question I pointed to myself. I am Dr. King’s legacy. A woman of 25 moved by words spoken 44 years ago, words that are a part of my moral conscious. Me, I am Dr. King’s legacy a minority woman of color proud of who she is a woman who has never had to shrink away when confronted with racism. I am Dr. King’s legacy free to speak my mind, to exercise my rights without fear of reprisal. The fact that I am still here on this planet unscathed and not swinging from a tree after having spoken my mind so many times throughout my life is Dr. King’s legacy.

Like Dr. King I too have a dream my dream is that as I make my way into the world I will leave this world a better place. I hope that I will live up to Dr. King’s dream. My dreams are inspired by Dr. King’s words, “ And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

Amen,Dr. King amen.

I Have A Dream –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.- 1963

Labels: MLK

Posted by @ 11:18 AM
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