Happy Birthday Martin Luther King Jr!!!!

What if you lived in a place where the laws of the land only applied to you if they were meant to keep your freedom suppressed? All the books taught you that you were the same as everyone else, yet you still could not take advantage of the very things you were promised at birth.
So in effect you lived as a second, third or even fourth class citizen in this place. You were told where you could eat, drink, live, and who you could be friends with.
All of you know that happened right here in our country and continues in many others. Please take some time today and reflect on where we have been and where we are going.
I don’t always take or get today off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, but I like to think about the things he stood up for and his universal message of peace.
I think back to the events that took place in the early nineteen hundreds in America with African Americans and I see that struggles that people went through. I speak to relatives and ask questions about “What was it like then?” and “Did that ever happen to you?”
The sad part is that someone could ever think another person is lesser solely based on the color of their skin
I think back to things that happened to me as a kid, how Northeast Mpls (or Nordeast) was off limits and if you went over there you were chased back. I had friends that lived over there and spent many a summer day riding top speed to their houses and back home to get over the Broadway bridge as quick as possible.
I had a chance a few years ago to visit the Lorraine Motel where Dr.king was assassinated. It was very interesting and if you are ever in Memphis please check it out. It was as uplifting as it was sad and disturbing. A very good place for reflection on historic events and being thankful for those who went before you.
The “I have a Dream” speech is still really powerful to me and makes me think on how things might have been if my predecessors had not stood up and dared to dream. .
I know sometimes I use the tagline “Keeping the Dream Alive!” when I sign-off on emails as a funny thing, but every time I do, I think about all we have gained as African Americans and as Americans in general. So it’s important to keep the dream alive and to remember who you are as a person and to treat all people with respect. The same respect you would afford a loved one or a close friend.
I feel like I am babbling so I will leave now, remember…
Keep the Dream Alive!!!