Dear Great Grandson,
Tomorrow, Jan 20, 2019, I will be one of more than 300,000 participants in the 51st Anniversary Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day march in San Antonio, Texas. This march honors the legacy of Dr King and keeps the Dream alive. This march is one of if not the largest in the country.
I hope you are learning in your history class about the Dream of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and why we marched. I hope your history book has several chapters on the Dream and its call for true equality for all men regardless of race, creed, religion, or ethnicity. I hope your generation has stood on the shoulders of the Dream and have been smart enough to overcome all obstacles to true social justice in our country. I hope you live in a time where the barriers that prevent someone from living up to their maximum potential have been removed and replaced with open doors of opportunity. I hope you live in a society where differences are met with open dialogue and a determination to find common ground and solutions. I hope the extreme sides on every issue are engaged and understand what is good for all is the only acceptable outcome. I hope you live in a country that acknowledges and accepts differences, but focuses on commonality. I hope you live in a country where poverty is a thing of the past and everyone has better than sufficient housing and no stomach aches from hunger. Great Grandson, these things have not come to pass in my time and we are still marching!
I hope you have heard of the slogans, We Shall Overcome, Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and Times Up. But I hope you have learned that these were much more than slogans. They were a call to action to overcome social injustice, they were a call to action to stop the indiscriminate killing of black men by a few misguided police officers, and they were a call to action to prevent the sexual harassment and systemic sexism against women in the workplace. But most of all Great Grandson, these were strong meaningful movements that influenced change during my time. They continued the fight against the many forms of injustice that affected many parts of our society. These movements themselves are a part of the Dream and we are still marching!
Great Grandson, I hope you live in a time when you are truly judged by the content of your character and your skin color is irrelevant. I hope you live in a time where justice is a reality for all. I hope you live in time where the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are true and guaranteed for everyone. If this is the case Great Grandson, then you are living the Dream. But if these things have not come to pass, I hope you march!
I Love You Great Grandson
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