Dr. Martin Luther King- The Dream Isn't Over

         I first heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in my first grade class. We all gathered in a circle and held hands as our teacher read his I Have a Dream speech. We then marched through the narrow hallways of our school singing lyrics from A Man Named King:
           
              "The freedom road is weary and long, Alleluia,
               But Martin sang a freedom song, Alleluia,
               We must keep the dream alive, Alleluia,
               Freedom's song can never die, Alleluia."

       It wasn't until later when I knew what King stood for and all he did to promote equality. In class, learned that in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed, banning discrimination in schools, public places and other fields. I thought to myself-- It's all over! Everyone is equal and no one is discriminated against. We don't need to worry about this anymore. Let's just remember what he did and be thankful.

     Entering the "real world," I got my first job at a fast-food restaurant. I realized everything was not okay. The majority of those employed at my job were black. Among the employees, I was treated differently, as if I wasn't one of them and didn't belong. The customers and my boss treated me differently as well. It seemed as if I was put at a higher regard and more was expected of me. At night, I watched white female customers cling to their purses as a black man walked up to the counter. A white man came in after and the women never looked up from their cheeseburgers.

    In 50 Years Later, Charles M. Blow writes, "We appear to be resegregating-- moving in the opposite direction of King's dream." Blow also referred to a Reuters/Ipsos poll which found "about 40 percent of white Americans and 25 percent of nonwhite Americans are surrounded exclusively by friends of their own race."

   There is nothing wrong with hanging around those most like us, but banishing those who are different is the opposite of what King worked so hard to achieve.

   In a small auditorium at Ohio University Southern yesterday, dozens of community members sat in silence as two black women performed an interpretive dance entitled Change is Going to Come. The dance brought tears to my eyes. The women danced with each other, their worn faces reflecting years of hardship but simultaneously, their eyes sparkled with hope. King brought change, but there is more to be done. Change was going to come and still needs to come. 

   The issue isn't just between blacks and whites. There's issues between genders, those in the north and south, citizens and non-citizens and more. King preached about equality for all. He preached about acceptance for everyone despite gender, color, income or appearance. His dream was to view those from the inside.

  We need MLK Day. We need to remember what King has been able to give us and what still needs to be done. We need to remember all he did and continue to follow in his footsteps. We need to march on and continue his legacy. We need to create our own dreams. We must imagine a place just as King did and fight to make it happen.

 "We must keep the dream alive, Alleluia,
 Freedom's song can never die, Alleluia."