Dreams
Today, April 4, 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. Sadly, on that day James Earl Ray killed him with a single shot. Dr. King had answered a request to come to Memphis to support the strike of the sanitation workers who were working in unsafe working conditions and for very low pay.
On August 28, 1963, years before that fateful day in Memphis, Dr. King had delivered his famous speech in which he proclaimed he had a dream. A portion of his dream was:
I have a dream today…I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall we made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the cooked places will be made straight. “(The copyrighted version is written to catch the nuances of his speech pattern. I have not tried to duplicate those here.)
I was alive and living in Washington, DC metropolitan area on April 4, 1968. In May, I would receive a degree from the University of Maryland and soon, thereafter leave with my wife to continue my studies. I would, however, often return to Washington, D.C. to join on in the ongoing struggle to end our involvement in the Vietnam war and to pressure those in power to address the ongoing injustices which Dr. King, Coretta King and many others dreamers were challenging.
Dr. King could have limited his dream to being a Baptist Minister and possibly a professor at a prestigious school. He could have limited his dream to getting his piece of the pie which had been promised to every citizen and, yet, was then and is being denied to many. He could have told the sanitation workers union in Memphis when they asked for his help that he was working on a bigger dream and did not have time for their fight. He could have limited his dream to justice for black Americans. He did not limit his dreams in any of these ways.
All change begins with a dream or a vision. The students of Parkland Florida could have limited their dream to “Never Again” for white, privileged students. They could have limited their dreams to better security for their school and the other schools in their small community. They could have limited their dream to one large march or 15 minutes of fame. They have not limited their dreams in any of these ways. They have a dream of getting young people to register and vote. They have a dream of bringing attention to the fact that the killing of privileged while students gets more attention than all the killings of young black men (and women). They have a dream of reducing the number of guns designed for war sold to non-military people.
Today may be a good day for each of to ask ourselves, “What is my dream?” “How large is my dream?”
Dreams are always positive. Dreams are not about revenge, getting back at the other person, or out bullying the other person.
Dreams can be about freedom, justice, fairness, safety, and joy.
The distance to one’s dream is just one step and one step and one step and….
Written April 3. 2018
Today, April 4, 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. Sadly, on that day James Earl Ray killed him with a single shot. Dr. King had answered a request to come to Memphis to support the strike of the sanitation workers who were working in unsafe working conditions and for very low pay.
On August 28, 1963, years before that fateful day in Memphis, Dr. King had delivered his famous speech in which he proclaimed he had a dream. A portion of his dream was:
I have a dream today…I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall we made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the cooked places will be made straight. “(The copyrighted version is written to catch the nuances of his speech pattern. I have not tried to duplicate those here.)
I was alive and living in Washington, DC metropolitan area on April 4, 1968. In May, I would receive a degree from the University of Maryland and soon, thereafter leave with my wife to continue my studies. I would, however, often return to Washington, D.C. to join on in the ongoing struggle to end our involvement in the Vietnam war and to pressure those in power to address the ongoing injustices which Dr. King, Coretta King and many others dreamers were challenging.
Dr. King could have limited his dream to being a Baptist Minister and possibly a professor at a prestigious school. He could have limited his dream to getting his piece of the pie which had been promised to every citizen and, yet, was then and is being denied to many. He could have told the sanitation workers union in Memphis when they asked for his help that he was working on a bigger dream and did not have time for their fight. He could have limited his dream to justice for black Americans. He did not limit his dreams in any of these ways.
All change begins with a dream or a vision. The students of Parkland Florida could have limited their dream to “Never Again” for white, privileged students. They could have limited their dreams to better security for their school and the other schools in their small community. They could have limited their dream to one large march or 15 minutes of fame. They have not limited their dreams in any of these ways. They have a dream of getting young people to register and vote. They have a dream of bringing attention to the fact that the killing of privileged while students gets more attention than all the killings of young black men (and women). They have a dream of reducing the number of guns designed for war sold to non-military people.
Today may be a good day for each of to ask ourselves, “What is my dream?” “How large is my dream?”
Dreams are always positive. Dreams are not about revenge, getting back at the other person, or out bullying the other person.
Dreams can be about freedom, justice, fairness, safety, and joy.
The distance to one’s dream is just one step and one step and one step and….
Written April 3. 2018
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