We all have dreams in where society could be one, hatred and violence will be put to a stop. Where blacks have equal rights, and not are abused by what is called the law. In “I have a dream” speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described his dream for his people. On  August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not only speak for himself, but for so many blacks who followed him. Till this very day his words are carried on to the hearts of those who are still working for that same dream. This speech is dear to me, because of the message it sends.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, in which Negros who were enslaved were to be set free. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated “it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity”, an end to all slavery. But did slavery really ended that day? As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. goes on to say “one hundred years later the Negro is still not free”, “one hundred years later the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and chains of discrimination”, we are now enslaved by the color of our skin. Since your skin is that of a black person you are not allowed the same rights to that of a white person. Decades have past and we are still enslaved by poverty with no hope, so are we really free.

No, Negro may have been free from captivity, but Negro was still very much enslaved by society. As the speech stated “America has given Negro people a bad check”, “a check which has come back marked insufficient funds”. America failed to honor their promise where blacks would have rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But even when Negro is let down, they still do not give up hope.  They still hope that justice will prevail. “Nineteen sixty three is not an end, but a beginning”, a beginning for change. In the pursuit to change we must not stoop to the act of violence the very thing we stand against. In our pursuit for change we must stand side by side one another and fight with our faith and soul.

In the speech something that stood out to me was the line where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated “we can never be satisfied as long as Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality”. This which is disgusting and unfortunate to say still is something that blacks face to this very day; for example the killing of black men brought on by people who are sworn to protect us. As a result of the killing of Sean Bell, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Cameron Tillman, Eric Garner to name a few, we are still putting up a fight to end police brutality. As a mother of a soon to be young black man, the prejudices my son may face due to the color of his skin based on ideologies originated long before him scares me.

I commend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his bravery and empowering words that will continue to ring in the ears of so many black people still to come. His message to end discrimination, his message that we shall all be counted as equals despite what the color of your skin may be. I hope that his message is resonated by those of power who are able to bring a change to the society. Never stop dreaming, stick by your dream, fight for it and believe in it.