"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 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."While it is a good dream, worthy of meditation and contemplation, and a basis of our nation, how do we ever create a nation where “all men are created equal”? We all come out of different backgrounds, are born into different families, cultures, and opportunities. Perhaps a better statement would be “all men are given the chance to climb above that which they were created in,” and conversely, “this life is yours to spoil.” God created us man and woman, then by race, having the ability to make our own decisions. While we may not all begin our life equally, nothing but ourselves should get in the way of us becoming whatever we want to be. If you’re being held back, or prejudiced, change. As I’m sure we’ll hear tomorrow, our nation is in a time of change, so make it personal. Just as MLK worked to remove the prejudice that served as a barrier to many black people, others like Madame CJ Walker were able to prevail in spite of being a black woman in a time when both her gender and race were held down. Don’t hold yourself back any longer.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963
2023 word of the year
3 years ago
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