Continuing the Dream

           August 28, 1963-August 28, 2013.  It is hard to believe that it has been fifty years since Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech at the March on Washington.  In my seven years as a teacher, I have taught the “I Have a Dream” speech, or at least some part of it, every year.  I have taught students how to analyze the use of logos, ethos, and pathos in the speech; to understand the effect of parallelism and repetition; and to examine the strong use of imagery throughout the speech.  I have played the speech aloud with Rev. King’s voice silencing the class, had students read it aloud with their own inflections, and read it to them myself with my own inflections.  I’ve had students write their own “Dream” speeches and write their own calls to action.  We’ve read the speech in conjunction with King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and alongside Gandhi’s and Thoreau’s opinions on civil disobedience.  In short, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech has become a rite of passage within my freshmen and sophomore classes: students must understand its historical significance, connect it to their own lives, and think about their own dreams for the future.

                Today, I would like to do the same as I reflect on the speech and its place in today’s society.  As a nation, we have made much progress since the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, but in the words of Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the assassinated civil rights leader, "This is not the time for nostalgic commemoration.   Nor is this the time for self-congratulatory celebration. The task is not done. The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more."  The people who gather in Washington today to commemorate this famous speech unite with the hope that the dreams of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. will continue to expand to all people in areas of race, gender, immigration, poverty, voting rights, and education. 

We are at a crossroads in America.  We are moving forward rapidly, but there are times when we falter at the intersection, scared to take a new path and frightened enough to retreat back the way we came.  As we honor the words of Rev. King, Jr. today, let us think about how they apply to our own lives and how we can unify the America that is more diverse today than it ever was before.  Fifty years have brought progress and change, but the next fifty years have the potential to continue the progress exponentially— only if we unite as a nation to see our love for our fellow citizens continue to grow.  We must look past party lines and political philosophies to what we collectively need as a nation.  We must continue to protect freedom, and to do so, we must find more ways to provide opportunities for our marginalized citizens.  We must work together to ensure the same opportunities for all—opportunities in areas of civil rights, finances, and, perhaps the most important starting point for all equality, education. 

As I end with some select lines from King's famous speech, think about how it applies to our world today and how the dream will never fully become a reality without the effort of our entire nation.  The dreams of our young schoolchildren depend on our collective effort:

“…We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy…

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back…

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, 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 today!...

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…knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.”