Dreaming the Dream

Yesterday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech's 50th Anniversary. Although it saddens me to acknowledge that we have not achieved his dream, it also inspires me to dream my own dreams. I have dreams of being happy, of making a living doing things I love, of not letting my past and the abuse others rained down on me reign in my dreams.

I don't want equality for a whole group, just myself. And while my rights have not been taken away by another group, my belief in my rights was taken away piece by piece.

In grade school, we had an exercise once a year called "LILAC", which stood for "Look, I'm Lovable and Capable". We'd make these signs and hang them around our neck for the day.

When someone made you feel bad, you tore a piece of your sign off. When someone made you feel good, you put a piece back on.

There was one girl who was left with nothing but nubs on the ends of her string. To this day, I will never forget that girl or her LILAC sign. And while, in this particular story, that girl wasn't me, she was me in the larger story of my life. People were like piranhas to me: they picked and bit and excised pieces of me and who I believed I was until there was nothing left.

So, on this Anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech, which encourages--no, demands--action until we have the same opportunities as others, and demands that we stand up for one another when someone's Constitutional rights are being violated, and that we change the system that allowed this to happen in the first place, I launched a new blog, called The Revolution Starts Now: Buck the American Dream.

Why? Because I have to fight. I have to make a difference. I'm not going to achieve much in the way of Eudaimonia if I don't start fighting for what's right, and there isn't much left that's right in our world.

I have a dream that I and others will achieve a lasting sort of peace that comes with being happy with ourselves and our accomplishments. That feels well-earned pride, but knows humility as well. I have a dream that we can make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream a reality if we all do the right thing.

That might be respecting others, helping single mothers, being good role models, or just not popping the locks when we see a Black man on the corner. We have to stop living this way we've been living: this raping the world and bullying one another and putting our happiness into things.