everydayinamerica

Today is the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday…

I want to reflect on an article I was sent back in 1999, when putting together a list of charities to benefit from a concert that was being prepared to move into the 21st Century…This was one of the charities…Oxfam America…

“Many believe blacks must participate in the structure of American capitalism in order to prosper as individuals and communities.  Ownership, the bedrock of American society and measure of success, makes citizens free to master their own destinies.  Ownership brings leverage in American economic life and, subsequently, social and political spheres.  Lack of ownership, many believe, has kept blacks and minorities in an inferior social position in which financial resources are squandered to maintain the success of already powerful whites.”

–Laura K. Warrell, Oxfam America Viewpoint, spring 1999, Cover Story, “Does Restitution for Black Farmers Equal Justice”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed and spoke upon equality for Black Americans economically, as a key factor in achieving racial equality, and spoke upon it in many of his speeches on the long road to establishing Civil Rights for Americans of African ancestry…decades before organizations like Oxfam took up the journey to solidify processes and progress in this still long, long road to racial equality…

Where are we in education…housing…jobs…equal pay…civil rights…freedom…the American Dream…Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Dream?

When you look at America today…do you see progress or a train running backwards down a hill… headed for certain destruction? Do you see hope for a brighter future? Or positive changes unraveling and being taken apart…taking a country back to savage beginnings it takes pride in clinging to?

How can we…honor the best of ourselves…by implementing that best into the fabric of a nation torn and tattered by division and despair? How can we ensure the promise of America, when days like today come…and remind us what living and living in America…and the world, is really all about?

Take today and remember…take today and what it really means to dream a dream of peace…unity…humanhood…community…liberty…freedom…and make it your reality to create a world that can continue to achieve and sustain the better part of humanity’s contributions in ensuring a future for generations…

I have a dream…

That we will wake up…create the dream…and live it….