This year Martin Luther King Jr”s birthday is a bit surreal for me.? Every year around this time you hear all the popular quotes and meanings of what Martin Luther King Jr. did for blacks/minorities in this country.? This year it feels like fate.? On the eve of our nation’s 1st biracial/multicultural President’s inauguration, I can’t help but think of some of the words that have echoed for years.
“I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
I read parts of some of the speeches and it seems different now.? It seems that the words have changed before my eyes.? As many of you know, I grew up in a majority white community.? As a child, I never thought about race.? I was innocent to what happened to black people before me.? But I was quickly educated as an adult.
Throughout my life I’ve never felt as if I missed social or financial opportunities because of my race.? I’ve always been an over achiever to neutralize any preconceptions that people might have about me.? I realize that many people don’t have the same experiences that I have.? And it makes me sad to know that so many people have experienced such hardship because of their ethnicity.
“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
Here it is 46 years after MLK Jr. gave this speech, I’m watching history in the making.? Our generation now has a story to tell future generations.? It’s the moment when these words came to life.? It’s the moment when so many people have a sense of pride and accomplishment.
I feel the sense of excitement that so many minorities, imigrants, and others feel.? I find it hard to describe what I’m thinking and feeling in words.
As I take a minute to reflect on this holiday, this year seems to mean more than it did for me previously.? I am thankful that I have the opportunity to live and date according to my own choices.
So I’m curious, what are your thoughts this year?? Does it seem surreal to you?
If you want to read the full I Have A Dream Speech, click here.
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