Martin Luther King had a dream. That in itself is not that unusual. We all have had dreams; some of us have even suffered through a few nightmares.

But Dr. King’s dream was different. What is extraordinary about Dr. King’s dream was that he had an ability move a country and a people to action by simply sharing his dream with a people who shared his vision for equality. And most importantly, he had ability to eloquently express himself, and simply made his dream come alive.

Channeling the energy that surrounded him, he led a civil rights movement that eventually changed this country’s social fabric and will forever remain as one the most important events in American, if not world, history.

And in return, each year we dedicate a day to remember his contributions to the struggle for equality and civil rights. Unfortunately, it is not enough to relive the dream for only one day.

Which leads me to conclude that for the most part, some dreams have value; but only if we are able to communicate them to others and share the vision that dreams seem to inspire; but only if we live them.

There is no doubt that this country has a way to go before we realize the full meaning of equality, but the dreams that we were left with by Dr. King, by great leaders like Cesar Chavez, have given us all a good starting point: unless we choose to look the other way and ignore the lessons that they taught us.

And sometimes, that’s the easy road to take.

It is especially easy if a person no longer suffers the indignities of inequality. Or the humiliation of poverty; or lives with the dehumanization of their entire culture; as happened with the Native American people for example.

It’s easy if our bank account tells us that we have finally reached the economic mountaintop. It’s easy to do if we are made to feel like we belong when it suits the needs of others. It is easy if we turn our backs on the less fortunate of this world, and deny that we were ever one of them 3 times before the rooster crows twice.

What is hard is to continue the struggle that a dream like Dr. King’s inspired; a struggle that is not over. Yes, it may be over for some, but as long as inequities exist among us, it

remains our responsibility to bring them to light, to make sure that the dream continues to live.

Continuing to live a dream, may be as simple as speaking out when it matters; even though we may think no one is listening. Or it may be as difficult as taking an unpopular stance and being ridiculed for it. And sometimes, it may even mean losing one’s life as Dr. King did; not so many years ago.

The challenge for us today is to realize that the goal that Dr. King and people like Cesar Chavez inspired remains a moving target; similar to the way Lucy snatches the ball away just when Charlie Brown is about to kick it.

If Dr. King’s sole objective was to gain civil rights equality, then to a certain degree we could all say that has been achieved and we could all pack our bags and go home. But we cannot, not yet.

For at any moment, when we think that we’ve arrived, we would do well to remember those that we have left behind.

The capacity to dream and the vision that a dream inspires lives within all of us.

It would be a shame to let that go to waste.



Email: acruztsc@aol.com