Dreams can be the unrealized desire of an individual, a people, a nation. They are the foundation upon which goals are made and the incentive for transforming behavior. Dreams are treasures of inestimable value that reside in the heart and mind until they materialize in time and space.
When we speak of a dream, we are not referring to some vaporous state that is merely a wish. The entity is a state of heart and mind in which one can see oneself living or achieving in a particular context. Individuals, peoples, a nation can see themselves occupying life in a manner that does not exist in the present. The dream is the initial step towards concretizing a particular future. The dream is beyond the level of a wish because a person, a group of people, a nation can see functional existence in the dream. If one does not see the self as having a place in a dream, then the thing seen is no more than a wish that may soon be replaced by the next passing distraction.
The substantive dream may be embraced by more than one person in an organization or country. The vision becomes the center of action of a group or of a nation. It fuels the work of many who work for the fulfillment of the dream for the larger group. Although the dream may have a public and private dialogue, sometimes it may seem as though the next generation may not grasp the necessity of the dream. They may regard it as no longer relevant to their time. Dreams that speak to change of deep-rooted facets of life may take more than one generation to come to fruition. Impatience can be toxic. Will a generation or two discard the dream because they are able to have materially and educationally that which their parents could not achieve? Instant gratification appears as available to them as everyone else. The young are not necessarily disrespectful of their elders; they just think life is better for them. Sometimes, it seems that the dream and its required work are no longer necessary.
In August 1963, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before over 200,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. to peacefully put before the government the need for jobs and freedom for African Americans (about 25,000 of those in attendance were white). There was large unemployment and the minimal wage was the standard compensation for Blacks who were employed. A civil rights bill to do away with segregated public accommodations, protection of the right to vote, desegregation of public schools and Federal Fair Employment were critical matters of concern. After many prominent persons had spoken, Dr. King shared a brief statement relevant to the event’s concerns. Barely had he concluded his remarks when the voice of the renowned gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, called out to him, “Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!” Persons near the platform begin to yell to him to tell the dream. With sermonic cadence, varied tonality, passion that ascended from the core of his being, Dr. King shared the dream that was more than 400 years old.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”
Fifty-seven years later like scalding lava spilling down a mountain that was the bowl containing it, a black man handcuffed and lying on the ground was murdered by the pressure of a white policeman’s knee upon his neck. Many other young Black people were killed across the country. These were reasons for maintaining the flames of the dream. The young marched. They were of mixed races, cultures, religions—though mixed, they were fixed on marching to bring the dream to reality. A year or so later, there was an insurrection at the Capital building in Washington, D.C. by a group which was determined to stop the nation’s voting process. More people died and were injured. Despite the abominable time, the young saw the need to hold fast to the dream and work unrelentingly for its reality. Their grandparents, parents, the folk of the generation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., then knew that their children’s children knew that the maintenance of the dream was critical.
Then on a day brilliant with sunlight and cold, in the same month as the insurrection at the Capital, a twenty-two-year-old “bronze” poet stood at the podium during the inauguration of the new president of the United States of America. Present, were his family, dignitaries including former presidents of this country, and a global audience through media outlets. Amanda Gorman delivered her poem. It was 60 years after Dr. King’s impromptu masterpiece, “I Have A Dream.” The DNA of the dream was in her. Yes! There, again, was the dream in her words, in her images, in her marching vocal cadence—a calm, inspiring, passionate recitation of the dream.
We will rise from the golden hills of the West. We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.
Two generations removed, and the dream continued to germinate. We will know when the dream is a reality because we have heard its revelation and see it in our hearts and minds. We still hear Dr. King proclaim:
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all 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 spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”
Dorothy Watson Tatem, D.Min., ACC
Senior Associate
Cassandra W. Jones, Ed.D.
President & Founder
Next Step Associate, LLC
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