Have We Forgotten “The Dream”?

Written By: Sarah Waites

Life Dynamics Staff

I stand motionless, staring at the man who towers above me and gazes defiantly into the night. His pose is resolute. Etched into a large stone, Martin Luther King Jr. appears to be emerging from it, as if he had been buried in sand which was now gracefully being uncovered by the wind. The statue is the embodiment of his statement that “with this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

I was awestruck when my childhood self saw his “I Have A Dream” speech on that small television screen in our classroom. His powerful speeches about justice, humanity, and ONE America were beautiful.

“The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A Drum Major For Peace

Of course, it is important to note that the fight for civil rights was successful because of the hard work and risks taken by so many leaders, but Dr. King’s role in that cannot be downplayed. It is no surprise that he inspired waves of Americans to risk so much to protest a grave injustice in this country. A injustice that could only be righted through peace and justice, not more hatred.

In his legendary speech at Lincoln Memorial, he stated: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” Those who marched with Dr. King took to the streets -not with Antifa style mob tactics and violence, but in a peaceful march. African Americans across the country united and told America that they were here and they would no longer be ignored.

“This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The American Dream

Perhaps why I admire Dr. King so much was because, not only did he fight for equality, but he believed the American ideals our country was founded upon was the way to achieve that. As he put it, his dream was “a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” He recognized that the “destines” of all Americans – Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, etc. are connected. Injustice upon one is a threat to justice for us all. The path forward was one that had to be taken together as equals.

“The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But civil rights isn’t just about equality – it is about brotherhood. The nation he fought for was one where we simply didn’t reduce each other, or ourselves, to the color of our skin.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

These words remain as powerful to me today as they were when I heard them in that elementary school classroom. This statement is poetic and yet tragic. The tragedy being that our country should have to be reminded of such a basic truth. That something so simple should have to be a goal… a dream.

A couple days after visiting Dr. King’s memorial, I had the honor to have lunch with a few ladies who were attending Turning Point’s Black Leadership Summit. Eventually, these very words from Dr. King came up in our conversation – but with a shocking twist. Every one of them shared with me how those words had become controversial. How when they had mentioned that sentence in their conversations or scholarship applications – it had been met with hostility. Over the last few years I have begun to ask myself a sad question, “have we forgotten the dream?”

Have we forgotten the dream?

Perhaps we have. The sad truth is that from the start, our nation has found it difficult to follow through on the ideals we founded this country on. Our history is filled with movements aimed at correcting those shortfalls – like the suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, and the pro-life movement.

There are some who may read this and gasp at the idea of tying this back to abortion. But the reality is that the issue of abortion has forever changed America. Like slavery, it is a dark cloud that will forever leave a horrible stain on our nation. Once again, we find ourselves splitting hairs on which human beings are entitled to the dignity and rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It has created a culture where men can avoid any commitments to the women they impregnate and responsibility for the children they father. It has decimated the African American population to the point that in America today, almost as many African American children are aborted as are born. The fact that abortion has reduced the black population by over 25% since 1973 proves that abortion is the ultimate form of voter suppression. And that is no accident.

The driving force behind the legalization of abortion was to wipe out the African American population. This plan was concocted by America’s elite, by the politicians, wealthy “philanthropists”, and those who claim to care about justice. It is a plan that is still happening today.

“In the 1960s, when we as African-Americans began to demand our civil rights for the first time in American history, there began a widespread cry in our government for legalized abortion…Could it be that when we said we would no longer sit on the back of the bus, a place was being reserved for us down at the abortion clinic?”

Alveda King (niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

It was that devious plan that brought me to the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. in D.C. that night. It was that plan that brought Life Dynamics to the Black Leadership Summit to spread the word about our documentary Maafa 21 – which proves without a shadow of a doubt that the genocidal effort is going on right here, right now. That summit brought in so many amazing young men and women who are building a new movement of conservatives – many who were just as touched by the words of Dr. King as I was.

Now, the real test for America is whether the political leaders who have so righteously spoken out against other injustices, will remain silent in the face of this one. Should that be their decision, they will surrender their credibility and lose the right to ever again be outraged.

Watch Maafa 21 for free on our website, Maafa21.com