Understanding Having a Dream
Did you know that Martin Luther King almost didn’t say “I have a dream” in his most famous speech?
I knew the speech long before I understood the man, so this factoid truly shocked me. Especially since his words have continued to touch, move and inspire people around the world for almost 40 years.
Here’s the backstory: MLK had been using the “I have a dream” phrase in other speeches leading up to the 1963 March on Washington. His peeps thought it would be “tired” to keep using the expression. They were looking for something “fresh” that would heighten his message of a United States free from segregation and racism.
When I first heard the “I have a dream …” speech, I was in grade school and I didn’t understand it, but I loved the rhythm of what he was saying, and I could tell he was passionate. I’d never heard someone be fervent and it made me curious what it would be like to feel so strongly about a dream.
And then I went back to watching Scooby Doo, eating Cheez-its and begging my parents to let me take baton lessons.
In high school, I started to understand the speech a bit more, but I didn’t think about what he was saying as a promise to humanity. I took the phrase “I have a dream …” as an anthem for individuals to make a stand for what they wanted. So I applied it to my own goals and desires. I have a dream to be an actress, to write a book, to make movies, to go to Hollywood, to travel the world …. to have a boyfriend. (This commitment to honesty and vulnerability in my blog can be embarrassing.)
It was awesome when MLK got a holiday – yay, a day off. I was (and still am) an idiot. I clearly didn’t understand the significance.
It wasn’t until I was well into adulthood that pieces began to fall into place about civil rights, segregation and racism. Why did it take so long? Because growing up, my parents believed the best way to survive was to keep heads down and not rock the boat. My Japanese mother encountered so much racism when she came to the U.S. after marrying my dad that she simply wanted her children to fit in as invisibly as possible.
When me and my siblings would complain about being teased – for slanty eyes, taking our shoes off in the house, putting salt outside the door to ward off bad juju, being mixed race, etc. – we were told to ignore it. Don’t make it worse by engaging.
My parents didn’t have MLK courage. They had a different quiet courage to buck the nay-sayers and judgers who said a white man shouldn’t marry a “gook.”
It was through watching movies like Boycott and Selma that my interest about MLK was piqued, and I read the biography Martin’s Dream.
I looked up some of King’s speeches and wrote my favorite quotes in my journal:
· "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
· “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
· “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
· "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
· "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
These words seeded in part who I’ve become today. The two primary reasons I coach are to help people across their finish lines by living their own values and purpose, and to make the world a better place by helping people connect with their courage, resiliency and wholeness. I dream that I am making a positive impact through my work.
On a final note, I found out that it was a woman, Mahlia Jackson, who convinced King to go off-book and do the “dream” thing at the March on Washington. I love that he trusted her intuition. Everyone needs people who truly have their back.
Who’s got your back and supports you in your dreams?
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