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A Dream Revisited
Dear Rev. Martin L. King
I am greatly indebted to you for all your efforts to bring civil justice and racial equality
I’m sure it was at times an uphill struggle, feeling like an exercise in futility
And even though you were faced with opposition from both sides of America’s people
You, Sir, chose to focus on the spiritual up building of all, and not the evils of society
You are remembered for many great works and endeavors, one being your speech
The one delivered in the shadows of one of the forefathers of this nation grand
The self-same progenitor of emancipation, a proclamation to make those free
Who were once considered chattel, mere pieces of property, less than a man
Five score years prior to your famous speech, the Negro, as we were then noted
Were forced into servitude, being led in shackles and torn away from home and family
In the agonizing heat of summers sun they tilled, planted, sowed, and toted
To reap a substandard living, a fear of beatings, a hatred for ourselves, plus hosts of tragedies
Seven score and thirteen years have passed since the “Negro” was declared set free
With the feigned hopes of having the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness
In the “home of the brave,” we have shed our blood for a diminutive taste of democracy
Never fully reaching justice, despite marches, prayers, or stints of “civil unrest”
Dr. King, good sir; you admonished us to conduct ourselves with dignity and discipline
Not allowing ourselves to resort to physical violence, becoming guilty of wrongful deeds
Using “soul force” to overcome physical force, or tapping our spiritual strength within
Enduring police brutality, social inequality, psychological enslavement and racial disparity
You cautioned us not to distrust our brothers of European ancestry as an aggregate
Eloquently noting that the freedoms of both peoples are inextricably intertwined
Although gains have been made to curtail blatant expressions that physically emasculate
We have yet to develop into a nation of peoples that are genuinely color blind
“When will you be satisfied?” This question rings forth from the mouths of social pundits
While media commentators pontificate the “wars” on drugs, crime, societal injustice
Our youth are being murdered, psychologically maimed, and seized for things redundant
Hopes of leaving the ghetto replaced by realities of our legal system’s fair and justness
Our children are being stripped of their adulthood by a substandard education scheme
Where value of property dictates the level of curriculum offered at the tutors’ bastion
From youth they are expected to underachieve and never dare inspired to dream
Leaving many bequeathed to inherit and wallow in their individual valley of desolation
I humbly advise you, esteemed Rev. Dr., that your dream of this nation living out this creed
“That all men are created equal” has not applied to men with a slave heritage
Like crustaceans in a bucket of boiling liquid, we are oft times consumed by greed
Losing sight of your grand words, missing the fiery zeal that abound in the message
That someday, every one of all nationalities will band together in unity and peace
Raising their voices against discordance, tyranny, discrimination, odium of all varieties
Furthermore, not judging others by the color of their skin, but on their principles and integrity
Thus bringing to fruition the ideology that was alluded to in your celebrated “dream”
A crestfallen soul
Q.B. McKinney
