“If you have knowledge that you do not share, you are responsible for your people’s ignorance.” –Author unknown.

Have you ever had a message that you tried to push into the recesses of your mind, but it kept wiggling its way back up to the front saying, “Speak on it?” You successfully push the thought back into its place; continue business as usual, and then it screams louder to you, “SPEAK on it!” Then, you stuff that sucker down into it’s rightful compartment, deep in the back of your mind, and put a piece of duck tape on the latch, go on about your business ignoring your conscience, and yet again the voice screams at the top of it’s subconscious lungs, “DAG ON IT, LADY SPEAK ON IT!” Been there? Well, that’s how my inner voice is speaking to me now, so to quiet her down, I’m putting my thoughts out into the universe and “speaking on it dag on it!”

The message – BE THE DREAM. Imagine life without the dream. March 7, 1965 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decides to stay at home instead of Marching to Selma. Internally, he insists there must be someone else who can conduct the marches, speeches, and meetings for civil rights. Imagine he doesn’t think enough of himself to use his intellect and passion to help free enslaved black and white minds throughout every country in the world.

Can you imagine that?
What if he thought marching the streets of Montgomery and Selma was just too long of a walk, and said, “Coretta baby, I’m a bit tired tonight and it’s so cold out there, let’s just stay in instead of going to church to inspire and share his dream?” Can you imagine how different life would be without Martin Luther King using his anointed charisma to expose the world’s ugly hand dealt to the oppressed? I can’t imagine him neglecting us like that. Not his dream. Not throwing in the towel and definitely not giving up hope that one day you, and you, and yes even you would have an equal playing field in America.

That brings us to an ugly question. Why do so many of us forgo our dreams?

Have We Overcome?
Fast forward to 2010 and many believe that since the freedom marches and We Shall Overcome speeches are post dates, because we have a “black” president, and just because a level of comfort in our surroundings has developed, that we are playing on a level playing field. All that we have to do to know that is not true is ask ourselves, “Can I take a look around the nearest black community and in good conscious say “we” don’t have work to do?”

Poverty wrecks black communities where children are neglected, abandoned, abused and undereducated right under our noses. Of course this happens in every community, but even worse many black youths are dying to senseless violence against them. Some youth are so undereducated about their past that they do not even believe that slavery and segregation existed. Some show no hope for the future because they’ve never had the opportunity to see hope up close and personal. All they have ever seen is despair.

The Dream Redefined
When Martin Luther King said to turn the other cheek, he didn’t mean to turn that cheek on your fellow man, as in look in the other direction and act as if you do not notice his struggles. He did not mean for us to turn the other cheek on our community. Yet, he wanted us to embrace our fellow men and women, as he did. He wanted us to uplift them, as he did. He wanted us to live according to the dream, as he so voraciously did.

One of MLK’s famous quotes ties this message together, “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” Through his many speeches, he left his light to shine in each and every one of us so that, at the very least, we have hope for a better future, a vehicle to get there, and a light to guide us to our destination. We have the same tools to make a difference as did any other community activist in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement – two hands, two legs, a heartbeat and one brain. All we have to do is turn on the light and “be the dream.”

Be the dream activities

Participate in events that promote literacy and community building. These often can be found through the local YMCA or recreational programs (or started by you). Donations are good, but more often than not time and leadership is what is needed most.

Start your own nonprofit doing work that you are passionate about and use that passion to uplift underprivileged communities.

Volunteer your time to local charities and churches that assist in educating, emergency assistance, and career development.

There are many other ways to help through donations, creativity, and giving of your time. The most important thing to do is to get busy reviving the dream.

Related Reading:

1. On Black History Month
2. What Do You Call a Black Man with a PhD?
3. The Fall of Minister Pierre
4. Slave Narratives: the Bedrock of Black Literature?
5. School Daze

About the Author:

Shani G. DowdellcloseAuthor: Shani G. Dowdell Name: Shani Dowdell
Site: www.shanibooks.com
About: Shani Greene-Dowdell is the author of Keepin' It Tight, Secrets of a Kept Woman (Volume 1), and editor of the erotic series, Mocha Chocolate: Taste A Piece of Ecstasy. When she is not working full time as a medical transcriptionist, she can be found promoting her books at various outlets.See Authors Posts (1)