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“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. 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." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state, sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 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 today.” [1]
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[caption id="attachment_1607" align="aligncenter" width="400"]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March On Washington[/caption].
Today, we pay homage to the man, to the speech to the dream. A dream that lives on, but has changed with the times. Today our African American citizens have the right to vote. They have all the rights of citizenship any other American has, except for one. Equality.
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Here, in the twenty-first Century, the dream of EQAULITY still escapes our nation. Equality regardless of race, color or creed… is still just a DREAM.
“A dream differed is a dream denied.”[2]Langston Hughes
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There is still great injustice in our nation, great inequality. The dream is still denied. However, it is obtainable. EQUALITY is still just a dream. Racial, financial, societal our nation is still plagued with inequality. Our inner cities are rife with strife and poverty. When President Johnson started ‘The War On Poverty’ the poverty rate sat at 19%.[3]Today our nation is gripped by poverty, still, as it sits at 17%. Fifty years and only TWO POINTS we have shaved off of poverty? What do we have to be proud of?
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Let us not forget, the ‘March on Washington’ was not just for voting equality… for freedom. It was also a march for JOBS. Financial equality is what we are fighting for, today. Each and every man has a right to work to feed his family, and himself. Today there is great financial inequality in our great nation. It runs rife in our inner cities and in our towns and townships.
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This inequality… this enslavement will just not fade away with good feelings nor with “good intent’. The only way we can fight this great inequality is by giving. Giving of ourselves, of our prosperity, of ourselves. To not let your mind be poisoned with the thoughts of self, of greed. Remember, My Dear Readers, that greed is a sin. When did we forget this fact and allow ourselves and our children to wallow in sin? When did it become ‘OK” for some to have so much, while millions each and every day go to bed hungry… scared? When did greed replace our God? That is what I ask of all My Dear Readers.
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We all know that what I say is true. Nobody can deny that our nation is rife with financial inequality and that inequality is based in greed. Dr. King not only marched for political equality for just his race. Dr, King marched FOR US, ALL OF US for financial equality!
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[caption id="attachment_1606" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.[/caption].
That is the remainder for the dream, unmet…
“The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these". Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between the rich minority and the poor majority.”[4] Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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As always, My Dear Readers, it is a great honor that you come to read my words… and today the words of Dr. King. Please, be kind to “The least among us…”
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Thank You!
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