I Have A Few Dreams

I say to you today, my friends, though, 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, 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 every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. 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.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day honoring the great man whose resilience for equality forever impacted this nation. Most of us enjoyed the day off, where we got to catch up on errands, cherish time with our kids or loved ones, and extend a weekend’s rest, even if just for a day. But this day symbolizes more than just a break from the business of life’s demands; it reminds us of a man who dedicated his whole life and gave of his whole spirit to fight for something he believed in, for something he thought was an absolute right, for something that would be esteemed and continuously defended for generations to come. Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., is one of the most viscerally raw, truthful, and poignant speeches of our time. Here, he outlines his dream for America; a dream that was situated between pillars of oppression and adversity. But against all opposition, Martin Luther King embodied resilience in achieving his dream of equality and freedom and of establishing a home that rests on these principles for future generations. In fact, his resilience, bravery, and courage are what we celebrate and revere on the third or fourth Monday of every January for years to come. More than just esteeming Martin Luther King’s spirit of resilience driven by the pursuit of truth, justice, and freedom, we can seek inspiration from the pursuit of his dreams in the pursuit of our own. You see, the spirit of Martin Luther King is accessible to us all. What made this man so inspiring to many and so influential even beyond the years of his life is not a product of one man in one time in history. The qualities, trials, triumphs, beliefs, ideals, and dreams that made this man a pillar of hope and achievement are all qualities that each of us possess in unique and distinct ways. Martin Luther King tailored his own experiences, times of despair, points of weakness, defining moments of strength, and instances where his courage stood against adversity into the relentless pursuit of his dream of justice, freedom, and equality for all. In a similar manner, we too can use our defining moments, beliefs, strengths and convictions in the pursuit of our own dreams. Martin Luther King inspires more than just the legacy he left behind, but he embodies the courage and conviction we must all draw upon in standing behind our dreams and the resilience we must all muster up in pursuing our dreams against adversary, obstacles, oppression, and discouragement. Learning from this great man and his greater fight to achieve so much more for our nation than what any single person had done before him, we may be inspired to muster up every ounce of our spirit in order to achieve what we have set before ourselves. As we reflect on how Martin Luther King discovered and achieved his dream, we may be able to tap into our own resilience, to build up our own strength, and to stand behind our own beliefs in the pursuit of our own dreams. As we stand at the threshold of this new year and of all the possibilities, adventures, and dreams that it begins to unfold for us, we may ask ourselves how we will begin to rediscover our dreams; we may begin to seek out why we have placed these dreams before ourselves. Once we have defined the importance of these dreams and the purpose that our dreams have in the world, we will then begin to recognize our own distinct potential in driving our dreams and our uniqueness in seeing those dreams become reality. Martin Luther King undeniably was one of the most influential and impactful men of our time, but what defined his influence and what shaped his greatness are the same spirits of conviction, defining points of strength, and triumphant moments of victory that have shaped each of us into the people we are today. It is time that we rediscover our dreams, ambitions, and passions and use the pursuit of our dreams in order to change the world in a way that no one else could. It is time to realize our potential and to activate our courage, conviction, strength, and resilience in order to leave our legacy and, perhaps with our success, to encourage future generations to believe in their dreams and to use their distinctness and uniqueness to impact the world.