Today we commemorate the life of Rev. Dr. (I can never remember which order those go in) Martin Luther King, Jr and I am greatly going to enjoy my day off...
But I will not take for granted the legacy he left behind, the seeds he planted, and the work that he left for us the next generations both black, white, red, yellow, and all colors in between to carry on
Today particularly on the cusp of the Inauguration of the Nations next President
A man who has propagated so much hate not only during his campaign but even post election
that it begs many to wonder what the next 4 years will look like for our country
Our country was not built on perfection, it was built on the backs of some and many toiled and slaved to simply have a voice
our country was built on divisive measures and segregating ideologies
and in 2017 it would be nirvana to think we have fixed the hurt and eradicated the pain
but we have not
hate and racism is a cancer that spreads into all areas no matter the color and no matter the socioeconomic standing
it is a very numbing not so subtle hand that continues to push and separate many
So today I ask Where are we on THE DREAM??
I think in some arenas we are living the dream
diversity is now a topic and a buzz word...whether it is truly being implemented is a secondary conversation unfortunately and while diversity now has become overly defined to incorporate many ideals that it was not originally birthed to include.... it is still a newly socialized concept
We just had for the past 8 years the first BROWN President of the United States
that is a totally foreign concept ..that is a dream that many never thought they would see
on the flip side, the likelihood of that occurring again is so very slim that it makes me think we are not far enough on the DREAM
The concept of a Minority having power is still not a vision that is held broadly around the good USA
there are many who are all to ready to discount someone still just based on the color of their skin
recently in my own safe suburbia there was a situation at the local Mexican restaurant where a patron left a note for their black server saying "Good Service but we do not tip black people"
This is 2017 -this makes me cry-this makes me scream and it should give everyone else that same reaction..
I could say WOW that someone feels that way, but that is not the alarming part
The piece that pushes me to the point of wanting to scream is that someone felt so BOLD and so EMPOWERED to express WHY they were not going to leave a tip
This is 2017...Where are we on THE DREAM
The fact that since this next President Elect has been identified more and more acts of hate and outright racism have become consistent occurrences in the news tells me
some of us have forgotten THE DREAM
or it was never a DREAM for some..maybe it was a nightmare
BUT if we are ever to be a great Nation
if our societies are ever to come to harmony (and again maybe that is idealistic) we must find our common ground
we must remember we all bleed the same, we all hurt the same, we all feel love, we all feel hate
