A Letter to a King with an Update on His Dream

Dear Dr. King,

Since you’re not here, I thought I’d give you an update on how your dream is coming along.

I am mindful that your dream is not yet real. That our children are still victims of jail cells. Our children are still being battered by the storms of persecution and what feels like an eternal quest for freedom. But you told us to continue the work of faith and that we should find redemption in our sufferings. You said this to us, not knowing that we would raise young Black men alone. You said this not knowing that our daughters would be victims of discrimination. You said this to us.

We have so far to go, so much more to fight for. But please know that your dream has inspired so many more than just your four little children to fight so that they are not judged by the color of their skin. Your dream has inspired me to raise my son and teach my students {of all races} that the content of their character carries so much more weight and importance than the preconceived notions of others.

As a teacher and a parent, I can tell you that your dream has not yet been fulfilled to its ultimate potential. We still need justice to roll down like waters equally flowing to all neighborhoods. But today I will send my son to a school where he is in the company of children from Africa, Asia, Argentina and from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Today I will walk into a classroom with students who don’t look like me and share with them the symphony of brotherhood so that out of my despair they can be a rock of hope for the future.

So, on this day, almost six decades after your speech, we remember your dream. We remember what you hoped for and I want you to know that no—we are not yet satisfied. But we will continue fighting, writing, learning, and leading until the day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

Sincerely,
A Proud Black Mom
{Words respectfully borrowed from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech}

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