In anticipation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2018, I have
been reading Dr. King’s words as put down in history books and anthologies, the
records of the great speeches of one of the greatest orators our nation has
ever known. And I admit I have found myself longing for the opposite of Dr.
King’s wish shared in his Mountain Top speech delivered on the eve of his own assassination,
in which he envisioned the Almighty asking him in which age he would like to
live and found himself longing, beyond his own hope and history’s reality, to
live to see his own tomorrow.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington |
Instead I find myself longing to be that proverbial fly on
the walls of history. If I could I would pray myself to those days of walking
among giants whose soft-spoken words of change and justice still echo through
the caverns of the status quo and crack the mighty mountain of injustice which
my forbearers climbed for me. I long to see the faces of those who dared to
dream that a tomorrow they may never see would be a day worth dying for. I long
to see the fire that blazed in the spirits of men and women who those standing
against the unquenchable change they represented attempted to douse with water
that only served to baptize their resolve. I long to be in the time of those
who could not be stopped because, as the spiritual declared, up above their
heads they heard music in the air, and the song it sang was of freedom.
Yet even in my longing, I know that were my wish granted and
I was transported, the message of these historical heroes to me would cast me
back with the inescapable charge of men and women like Dr. King himself, urging
me and all of us to march on. “Always march ahead,” they cry, “for we cannot
turn back now.” Approaching the 55th anniversary of King’s “I Have a
Dream” speech, they would ask, as I ask now, “Where is the dream … and where
are the dreamers?”
Where is the dream? Dr. King spoke of a dream “deeply rooted
in the American dream … that one day this nation will rise up, live out the
true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal.’” His was a dream that swelled beyond the voices of
those who would have seen in those days some small step forward and called for
him and his people to be satisfied. And as King and those who marched and prayed,
stood up and sat in, bled and hung, lived and died, knew … we know today that
we are not satisfied, and our struggle is not over. The justice King called for
was a justice that rolled like water. Today we see the rising tide, but it is
not justice rolling over us but indifference, prejudice, and the hard-hearted
call to “move on” where change has festered, and time rolled back upon itself. Today
we shudder at the unknown, recoil from the marvel of a diverse humanity, and
turn blind eyes to the same creative suffering that plagued our nation in the
days our Constitution’s promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
cracked and bled under the weight of systems pungent with prejudice,
persecution, and brutal injustice.
And where are the dreamers? We are still here, but who would
know it when we quiver at the thought of causing ripples where those who came
before us made waves? Even I have let the dream of that brighter day become a
shadow, a secret I keep to myself for fear that to share it will be unpopular
and with it I, too, cast from the acceptability of public gaze. Today’s
dreamers have become the dream deferred of Langston Hughes, a dream that
instead of exploding into action dries up like a raisin in the sun. I admit I am
ashamed to call myself a child of the dream who has not heeded the words of my
forefathers, one who has lost the way… one who has let the dream wither in the shadow
of silence.
I come back to today and I bring with me the voices of those
who have gone before me. The dream is not dead, and today I will not let it
die. Today I say that though we face a tomorrow ripe with worry and fear and
difficulty and pain, I, too, still have a dream. For too long our country has
rationalized or averted our gazes from racism, racial, cultural, and social inequality,
and institutional systems of oppression … but I still dream. For too long
political disenfranchisement, economic inequities, and social injustices have
gone unanswered … but I still dream. For too long our collective silence has given
foothold to those who would divide us with hate and fear, who would steep our
national dialog in the murky waters of divisive rhetoric and the blindness of
bigotry, and who thrive on our willingness to pursue what is easy instead of
what is right … but I still dream.
I dream that on this day we will return to the strength of
Kings, to freedom’s ring, and to lifting our voices and singing the harmonies
of liberty, justice, and an ever brighter tomorrow. I dream that the faith of
our past, and the hope of our tomorrow, will steady our hands and strengthen
our feet as we march on toward that great victory our ancestors prayed into our
reach. I dream that though the road ahead is long and paved in the blood marked
progress of those who fought for a dream they would not live to see fulfilled,
we will march on with courage and the strength of knowing that we, too, may
pass from this world without seeing our dreams realized but tomorrow’s children
will march beyond our bones to that promised land. I dream that we will rise up
with integrity, with faith, and with the great assurance that what we march
toward is worthy and right, and we will not give it up without a fight.
And more than dream, I vow. I vow to carry on. I vow to
reignite the flame. And I vow to fan that fire so that not even the mightiest
wave can snuff it out, until the whole world burns with the bright light of
freedom, of liberty, and of justice for all.
*****
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I just shared on FB. As I said there: Wow. My heart is both full for the words you share, and broken for the same.
ReplyDeleteKeep speaking your truth, your impressive way. Please.
Thank you, Marie. Together we can surely keep the dream alive and thriving!
DeleteMarie said what was on my heart as well. Beautifully and powerfully written. Won't it be wonderful when we are able to look back on history and wonder that there ever was such ugliness in the world?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debi. That truly will be a bright and beautiful day!
DeleteKhara, this is beautiful, and brave and so so necessary. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteThank you, De! I certainly hope I'm able, in any small way, to continue to honor the legacy Dr. King left for us all.
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