Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream

Photo © Francis Miller/Time Inc.

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’…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech never loses its power, no matter how many times you hear it. One can only imagine what it would have been like to see in person—how electric the air must have been, how hope engulfed the immense crowd as every word resounded with the intensity, passion and belief that filled and overflowed King’s soul.

As the camera panned over the giant audience gathered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial that day, it revealed people of every color, standing shoulder to shoulder, clinging to his every word. It was arguably the most poignant and significant speech of that generation, and beyond.

Will we ever hear one like his again? Will there be an “I Have A Dream” speech of this generation? Sure, there have been some speakers over the years who’ve given rousing rhetorical performances, but nothing that comes close to that of King. We’ve got to ask why. Have we stopped dreaming?

Is there anything today that would draw thousands of people to march through our streets calling for action? Is there one person who could unite the feverishly divided factions of our nation around one common goal, one common dream? Maybe Jon Stewart.

But, really, it’s hard to think of anything or anyone that might cause us to throw everything aside and give our lives for it. We may get inspired for a week, unleash a volley of irate tweets or status updates, and then life goes back to normal.

What made King’s speech so defining was that it wasn’t just a speech. He lived, breathed, ate and slept his dream. He marched, sweated, protested, fought and wept his dream. He died for it.

His speech still resounds today because it was surrounded and followed by real, true change. Our nation was forever transformed by the actions—not just the words—that gave King’s speech so much power. Though his dream is far from realized today, the fact that segregation finally met its demise after years and years of fighting signalled the beginning of change.

Maybe we don’t need a new speech or a new dream. Maybe we just need to remember how to fight again.

King said, “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.”

There are too many people in our country still waiting for their promissory notes.

When families are torn apart simply because they’ve sought a better life in our country, their pursuit of happiness is limited to which side of a border they happen to be on. When people are “randomly” searched at airports every time they travel, their unalienable rights apparently don’t apply, and when youth of color are stopped and frisked for wearing a hoodie and looking at someone the wrong way, the word “liberty” rings hollow.

Until the words that have spanned the decades resound beyond the static of an old YouTube video and into the consciousness of a nation, the status quo, the institutionally powerful will continue to decide who deserves liberty, rights and happiness.

King gave us all the inspiration we need. It’s our choice whether we “rise up and live out” his words, whether we allow “freedom to ring…from every state and every city” and acknowledge that there is still much to fight for. It’s up to us.