A Nightmare Longer than a Dream: Time to Wake UP
This month we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We celebrate the Dream he so eloquently described in 1963 at the March on Washington.
We hear and celebrate the words that, for many, became the cornerstone of the civil rights movement, helping prompt President Johnson’s We shall overcome speech and the passing of the Voter Rights Act and the Civil Rights act of 1965! On January 16 of each year, we channel the best of what America can be for a brief moment, and then we wake up on the 17th.
The 17th is always a tough day for me because when I wake up and see the world, I immediately remember that the Dream from the day before has been deferred. I remember that we have a leadership challenge in our country. I remember that Dr. King himself, in 1967, admitted that our country had dark times ahead because his Dream had indeed become a nightmare. It’s interesting in our world that when we think about everyone thriving, we always focus on the moments that we are most proud of and rest on our laurels. We constantly pontificate, take pictures, sing and pray, but we seldom take the necessary actions to access and achieve the Dream.
Just as we remember the Dream, we must remember that King shared, “the old optimism of the Civil Rights Movement is superficial and needs solid realism.” We have to have moments where we stop dreaming and start recognizing that we are failing regarding leadership in our country. Our Collective leadership needs a charge, a jolt, if you will. We must wipe our eyes and put on our best metaphorical bifocals to see the quiet quitting of activism, advocacy, justice, and freedom work. It’s time to recognize a dream without action, or intention is simply a story!
As we approach the days following the celebration of one of the most incredible humans ever to live, I ask that we do more than remember the Dream. I ask that we act on the things that still hold us back. The real leaders: you and I, are the “heroes and sheroes” we have been waiting to wake us up from the nightmare.
We must wake up to combat the unapologetic commitment of politics over people, greed over the notion of everyone thriving, and a blatant lack of acknowledgment of the sins of our past. We must embrace the reality and act on the fact that many of our neighbors are unnecessarily experiencing food and housing insecurity and that police are falling short of their oath with each murder against a person they pledged to protect. The ugly truth is that we hinder the right for all of our brothers and sisters to thrive each day. Reparations are owed, education is limited by cost, and economic disparity and injustice are left unchecked.
It’s wonderful to remember. It’s absolutely necessary to celebrate. However, we must also understand that although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, he was a person of action!
Will you act? Will you do what is necessary for all people to thrive? Will you do the work to make All lives matter by ensuring Black lives matter? Will you stand against the inhumane and disrespectful treatment of our immigrant and undocumented community? Will you help tear down the prison industrial complex that cages certain people for cannabis while making others billions? Will you commit and act to build a multicultural village where everyone can thrive, be seen, celebrated, and not be marginalized? Can you admit the Dream is now a nightmare, and it’s time to wake up?
What will the day after the celebration of the Dream look like for you? It’s time to lead. Will you join me?
