A Dream Deferred

Two years ago I took a road trip with my brothers.  We departed from our home in Pennsylvania and ended our journey here in Lakeland.  Our trip was loud and filled with laughter and memories as we stopped in various cities we had mapped out in our planning.  But there was one place amidst the noise of our adventure that is distinguished in my mind by its moving silence.  We were in Memphis, Tennessee standing outside the Lorraine Motel, eyes locked on the balcony where Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated some 41 years earlier.  The silence lingered as there were no words fitting to express the overwhelming emotion.  How does the life of a man with such compassion, such dreams, and such passionate pursuit of justice be brought to such a tragic end?  How could so much hate collide with such immense love at one moment?  It was a time where injustice festered in America; all value was stripped away from a portion of humanity.  In an instant, a dream was seemingly shattered.  What then?  Langston Hughes writes:



What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up
like A RAISIN IN THE SUN?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.Or does it explode?

The day before his death, Martin Luther King, Jr delivered a speech in which he said, "I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land.  I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.  So I'm happy tonight.  I'm not worried about anything.  I'm not fearing any man."  His dream was fulfilled long after his life was ended.  His vision of justice manifested itself long after that day in 1968.  I believe that there is strength in dreams.  I believe that there is power in a vision for the future.  I believe that justice is possible.  I believe that "injustice everywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  I believe that justice is possible today, even in our world immersed in child prostitution, poverty,  and war, where human lives are bought and sold, where hatred runs rampant.  I believe that one day, through the actions of dreamers, value will be restored to humanity.