Renewing the Dream
By Albert B. Kelly
This Monday marks the
official Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday across our country. Born January 15,
1929, he would have turned 85 years-old this month had he not been gunned down
in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was 39 when he died and that’s why he remains
fixed in my memory as a relatively young man; never knowing the autumn of life
or the ravages of old age, and never knowing what became of his dream.
It was a struggle for him
just to reach 39 and it was a struggle to dream the dreams that young men do in
their prime. I think he knew his time on this earth would be short and I think
he saw the specter of sudden death wherever he went and whatever he did. In the
late 1950’s in New York City, a deranged woman plunged a knife into his chest
and he was just one sneeze away from dying.
In fact, on a Wednesday
night in April of 1968, speaking to a group in Memphis, he talked about that
brush with death saying “If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have had a chance…to try
to tell America about a dream that I had had.” He was referring to his famous
“I have a Dream” speech from 1963.
Of course on that same
April night in 1968, he also said “Well, I don't know what will happen now.
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now,
because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would
like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about
that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the
mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get
there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get
to the promise land!”
The next evening,
Thursday, April 4th, he was shot and killed while standing on a balcony at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Those were the last words he would speak publically.
I remember being shocked at 12 years old sitting in front of the TV and
watching the news of his assassination with my parents. So yes, I think he knew
and I think somewhere along the way he prepared himself to pay the price for
the dream of what this country could be.
But what about us- black
and white and brown and red and yellow- the “haves” and the “have-nots”; are we
willing to pay some price or should it always be “them” who pony up? I ask the
question because the dream is about more than equality on paper; more than just
a legislated equality outlined in a statute or a bill; though it had to start
with the force of law. The dream is not one-sided either; it comes with
obligations to be sure, but it also comes with responsibilities.
I wonder what Martin
Luther King Jr. would say of his dream if he were alive today. Would he mark as
progress the fact that African-American’s went from issues of mere access to
the voting booth to occupying variously; the Office of President of the United
States, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, or Attorney General?
Would he call out the race
hustlers of all colors who make money and accumulate power from maintaining a
chronic state of grievance and hostility? Would he call attention to the
prejudice that gets practiced with a smile, a wink, and phrasing like “you
people”? Would he call to account the
“haves” who exploit and degrade the “have-nots” with punitive interest rates,
fees hidden in the “fine print” and sub-prime loans? Would he take on a
criminal justice system that some liken to a new Jim Crow?
Would he call to
responsibility those who squander any opportunity and access in society for the
notion that it’s better to get a little “street cred” in the hood than get on
the honor roll at school? Would he call to account the generations of babies
having babies who chose pregnancy over a diploma- continuing a cycle of poverty
and struggle? Would he call out the men who fail to stand up and be fathers to
their children? Would he demand more from those who are content to blame the
system from the outside than work within the system from the inside to change
it?
What would Martin Luther
King Jr. say of his dream if he were alive today? I don’t know the answer to
that question. If I had to venture a guess; I would imagine that some of what
he would see today would thrill his soul; while other things would simply break
his heart.
Either way, his dream did
not die with him on the balcony at that seedy motel in the chaos of 1968; it is
too big, too grand, and too wonderful to be silenced by an assassin’s bullet.
That‘s part of why we honor him today. The other reason we honor him is because
he was willing to sacrifice for the dream; including his own life. So what
about us; black and white and brown and red and yellow; what are we willing to
sacrifice 50 years later to renew the dream and bring it a little closer to
reality?