"I Have a Dream"

Although this past Friday, the 15th, was Martin Luther King's birthday, we celebrate it today. A brilliant man, a brilliant life taken away too soon. Below are just a few of the lines from his famous speech, "I Have A 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.'"
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."
"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."
"Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children."
"Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

I often wonder, has this country changed? Are people still judged by the color of their skin? As we celebrate the birthday of this amazing individual who stood up for what he believed, my "hope" is that some day we can all live in this world as ONE!

"I Have a Dream"

To me, today has great meaning. I'm old enough to remember Mr. King, and unfortunately, I'm also old enough to remember his death, and the horrific way he died! Even today, there are times I feel we have learned absolutely nothing from history, and I feel frustrated and saddened. I majored in Sociology in college, and I'm still pretty liberal in my opinions, but I still believe in being positive. And even in the sadness of the death of someone has brilliant as Martin Luther King, I remember one thing. That tomorrow, yes tomorrow, we will have a new President, someone that for me, represents HOPE!! The FIRST African-American president of the United States! So, as I go to sleep tonight remembering everything that Mr. King stood for, I believe in that full circle of life, I believe in Barrack Obama, and I believe once again in HOPE! I sincerely hope that you too share these thoughts, positive thoughts, hopeful thoughts, that Mr. Obama will make a difference in ALL of our lives, a difference in our world, and most in important, a hope there will be a difference in the way we look at each other, regardless of the color of your skin!