MAKING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR S DREAM A REALITY

Transcription

1 MAKING MARTIN LUTHER KING JR S DREAM A REALITY Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest By: Camilla Smith

2 As 1963 was not the ending but the beginning of Martin Luther King Jr s legacy, 1992 was the beginning of my life. Growing up and not knowing exactly what has caused this world so much dysfunction before my arrival, I would start to learn of the past slavery, oppression, the civil rights movement, and Martin Luther King Jr s legacy. I learned of this first through my parents. Soon after my parents would give me stories of their personal struggles, they would turn the negative into the positive. When I was in the fourth grade, my family went through a big transition. My parents moved my family out of the urbanized city of Detroit, MI and into the suburbs of Sterling Heights, MI. Here, I would be living the dreams of my parents and Martin Luther King Jr. My parents dream was for their kids to have a safe and increased opportunity of education. Martin Luther King Jr s dream was for blacks and whites to integrate together in education. While these dreams seemed obtainable, my dreams would seem harder to reach. Back then my dream was to feel normal in a place where I was a minority. Moving into Sterling Heights there were not many other African American families, and I was often the only black girl in my classes. Although this was really hard to deal with, the only thing I could do was adjust to a new set of living. This required me to make new friends of different cultures. I would adapt to new things such as, music other than rap and hip-hop, and various ethnic foods. Have you ever tried something for the first time, and then love it so much you would want it all the time? Well, for my brother and I, trying homemade Fettuccine Alfredo was like that for us. We begged our mom to make it, and although she used a box mix it still satisfied our cravings. I also had to adjust to a new school, which was more advanced in education and technology than my previous school. These new customs would affect my life for years to come. Eventually, I moved on to a more challenging development stage of middle school. By this time, the schools and neighborhoods were integrated with more African-Americans and

3 other ethnicities. At this point I realized that I was different from the other African-American students. The way I talked and acted were all features that made me an individual, but they were also triggers for judgement. I talked with proper grammar, and I chose to be friend everyone not just those of a particular race. Soon I would be characterized as being the white girl or acting white by those that I shared the same race with. The term Acting White is a derogative term applied to minorities, that can be described as a person s perceived betrayal of their culture. I always heard the phrase talking white. How could talking proper mean that I was talking white? And, Why couldn t I be black and talk proper? I felt lost and confused as to why I experienced so much animosity. I had to go through a drastic change at an early stage of my development. The derogative terms used against me only hurt me, but they didn t break me. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr, I was timid and was held back from voicing my issues when I was younger. I chose to walk away from the negativity because violence was never something that I sought. This could label me a coward or a bigger person. However you chose to look at this, just ask yourself-what would you do if you were in the shoes of an underdog? I fought for myself in ways that wasn t verbal or physical. The best thing I could do was to stay true to myself and my values. I didn t let the negativity hinder the ways I lived my life. I continued to succeed in school and live my life whether people accepted me or not. Like Martin Luther King Jr, I chose to rise above the hate and remained hopeful for a better future. After all, losing hope would only allow hate to win. Martin Luther King Jr s dream of integration would lead people to love freely.to recall Martin Luther King Jr s speech, I have a dream little black boys and girls will hold hands with little white boys and girls. I had the right to love whoever, which lead to my long lasting relationship with my boyfriend Alexander. The union of an African-American and a Greek-

4 American was frowned upon by many. The beginning of our relationship was challenging as we chose to ignore the disapproval of family and society. For example: we often heard people should stick to their own race, and we received fair warnings of how we weren t allowed to go everywhere together, and we also had to deal with heartless public stares.we didn t conform to society and its harsh views. It was a huge risk to keep moving forward, but breaking up would only allow hate to win. Although, being in an interracial relationship has brought those downfalls, we have also had many privileges that wouldn t have been possible decades ago. For example, my boyfriend and I travelled to Selma, Alabama which was once segregated, but is now a landmark of the civil rights movement. As we crossed the legendary bridge where Martin Luther King Jr, and other brave souls crossed we felt gratitude and appreciation. He fought for the equal rights of all while remaining positive and optimistic. I realized that fighting for what s right doesn t always involve violence. Using violence features anger, hate, and negativity, and it causes us not to deal with the real issues. This is not what Martin Luther King Jr. desired. He wanted us all to love freely and stand for equal rights, and I will continue to do so as I take on the next stages of my life. The ways Martin Luther King Jr. made an impact on my life was through his dream of integration. My dreams are to use the reality of my past challenges and triumphs with my career in Social Work. Being a Social Worker is not a 9 to 5 job where I will go to just collect a paycheck. I simply won t pretend that there are unjust problems going on in our world. I will fight for the rights of women, children, and men, no matter what size, race, age, sexuality, social class status one possess. I realize that I m not the only person who has gone through the struggle of not being accepted. One thing that I have learned about acceptance, is that you have to accept yourself first before anyone else can. As we are nearing the end of 2015, there is so much in this

5 world I am thankful for. The cost of integration, education, and love was all worth it. This is not the end of my destiny, but only the beginning. I know in my heart that I have to keep spreading Martin Luther King Jr s legacy by; never forgetting the civil rights movement, knowing that violence is never the answer, and lastly, never allowing hate to win. This is the time for all to remember his dream, and the progress that was made since that powerful March. It s important to recognize that his speech has caused many to produce different dreams. So I ask you all, what is your dream?