Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Not all dreams have become or stay nightmares.

by Jamie Seals January 20, 2025 4 Comments BM News Opinion Politics SN Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Many experts in neuroscience and psychology have concluded that dreams are essential for all of humanity. Dreams are needed for our mental, emotional, and physical health. Before August 28, 1963, many Black Americans would contend that their lives in America had been anything but a dream because their lives resembled a continuous ongoing nightmare. It is believed that nightmares are the effects of stress, trauma, depression, and other adverse life events. To this day, some Black Americans are unable to conceptualize dreams because nightmares are all they know.

The Nightmare of Slavery, the nightmare of the Rebellion War, the nightmare of Reconstruction, the nightmare of the Jim Crow South, the nightmare of Fighting for Civil Rights, the nightmare of fighting for Gender Rights for black women, the nightmare of mass incarceration in the black community, the nightmare of over-policing and underfunding in black communities, the nightmare of gentrification, the nightmare of fighting to have the right to stay woke, and the nightmare of fighting for Right to show Black Lives Matter, all have contributed to a nightmare that many Black Americans are unable wake up from because this nightmare, has been inherited from one generation to the next.

On August 28, 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about his dream for humanity, especially Black Americans, in his world-renowned “I Have a Dream” speech. American society celebrates Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. every year on His birthday, January 15. Like clockwork, many in the media, academia, and our leaders in our houses of worship all flock to the “I Have a Dream speech.” The dream that the Rev. Martin Luther King spoke of has yet to be realized for many black Americans. American society has yet to fully live up to being a nation where men, women, boys, or girls can live without being judged by their gender or by the color of their skin, especially if they are black.

Critical, honest, and transparent conversations are necessary to have not just within the black community but with American society at large, regardless of race, ethnicity, color, creed, or gender. For far too long, numerous Black Americans have wondered if the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream still lives. At one time or another, many of us have asked ourselves that daunting question: should I even dare to have a dream, especially since his dream hasn’t come to fruition yet. Many black Americans generally question their capability of having a dream for the society in which they live because, in many cases, they have not been undergirded with positive reinforcements, positive affirmations, positive experiences, or a level playing field. When dreams become insignificant in the eyes, minds, and thoughts of the dreamers, thoughts of apathy and irrelevance become commonplace.

It would be easy to place all the blame and lay all the onus at the feet of American society for all the unanswered dreams, lack of dreams, and all the dreams that have been deferred for black Americans, but that would be unjust and unfair to do so. As a member of the Black community, I realize we shouldn’t be guilty of being hypocrites or being guilty of lacking accountability for some of our poor choices and decisions. If we, as Black Americans, lack accountability, we would be accountability dodgers since we have a part in our destiny. As Black Americans, we must be willing and able to hear the voices of Black Women when they tell us to tell others about the dream. As Black Americans, we must be willing to push our Black men to take a stand, provide leadership, and have soundness of mind and clarity of speech. As Black Americans, we must provide an environment where our children know the dream and have a dream of their own.

Individuals across the globe, regardless of their race, color, creed, ethnicity, or gender, proclaim that Americans are dream killers due to the injustices they perceive we have committed routinely. If our nation desires to be a beacon of hope and democracy, we must fix our nation first before assisting abroad. If America truly desires for Black Americans to live in a country where we all can have a dream, we must realize we are in this life together. When Americans rise and become one, we can move from having and discussing a dream to realizing this is our reality.

Staff Writer; Jamie Seals

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4 Comments

Eugenio says:

January 22, 2025 at 1:00 am

Martin Luther King was a good man and he certainly had a dream o equality but his dream was not realize the way he wanted it. Indeed, Martin Luther king before his assassination at the Hands of a racist white police officer who fired that dreadful shot from a Fire department station at the request of the CIA and FBI, realize that H e had actually integrated the African American community into a burning house with Racist Whtie America.

Integration with racist Ameria was the beginning of the destruction of black homes, black families, black friendship, black churches, black jobs and black businesses. When we were segregated we were doing better as a people since we had more black men married to black women and living in the home with their chidlren, We had more well spolen and well dress black men and women, we had more middle class black men working and more black businesses, We had less crimes, less drugs, less alcohol in our communites, We also had less Sexually transmitted diseases, We had more black men loyal to black women and to their community and we had more black men armed and more churches loyal to the black cause with thousand of guns in each black church nationwide.

But, today as of 2025, we no longer have black men marrying black women, We have a high rate of out of wedlock children also known as bastard kids, We have more drugs, gangs, alcohool, STD’S in our community and We have more black churches bending the knee to the White government and doing everything the white men tells them to do in order to maintaing their 501c. tax credits and yearly donationa from the FBI to the pockets of sellout black pastors and deacons who are currently telling black men to stop fighting for their rights against the whtie men; but more so, these black churches are telling our black women to stop marrying black men and to stay single with a dog on their lap and black dictionally known as the Bible on their coffee table.

The Black churches and pastors fo today are the reason by the Black comunity is weak and loosing everything to other races; but more so, the black churches are responsible for 87% of black women been single, unmarried, unwed and with 5 to 8 bastard kidls out of wedlock with 5 to 8 different saggy pants wearing demcratice black men who themselves were raise by single unwed , unmarried mothers.

Enough is enough and we need to return to the old ways of having a father figure at home and unitying all the black communities into a black wallstreet and arming ourselves with legally purchase shott guns, riflles, pistols, ammunitions, body armored, kevlar kelmets and knowledge from BLACK HBCU’S and we must all do these in order to prepared ourselves, defend and separate ourselves from Racist America and the onsluaght of illegal immigrants coming over and taking all our jobs and attakcing our children with their flags of the so called Tren De Araguas gangs from Venezuela who were let in America by the Democratic govermnet of Biden and Karmala. It is time to fight to the death or die trying free and separated from racist Whtie People

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- Rasheed says:
  
  January 22, 2025 at 3:59 pm
  
  You’re right, the grand solution to all of this is to arm ourselves to the teeth, create a Black Wall Street 2.0, and prepare for battle against the “onslaught” of illegal immigrants and racist white people. Because when I think of effective community-building strategies, the first thing that comes to mind is stockpiling ammunition and Kevlar helmets.
  
  Let’s call to return to a time when black men were real men, with guns in churches and a segregated utopia where everyone looked out for each other – except, of course, for the whole part about systemic oppression and lack of basic civil rights.
  
  So, let’s raise a glass to the glory days, where men were men, churches were armories, and the American Dream was alive and well, as long as you didn’t mind living in a segregated society. Cheers to the nostalgic vision of a community united by fear, guns, and a shared distrust of anyone who doesn’t look like them. Because if there’s one thing history has taught us, it’s that the best way to overcome adversity is to isolate yourself and prepare for war.
  
  Reply
md rony ahamed says:

January 21, 2025 at 12:12 pm

Thank you for this powerful reflection on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. It’s a poignant reminder that while progress has been made, there’s still much work to be done to fully realize his dream. Your words inspire hope and action, encouraging us to keep striving for equality and justice. Truly impactful.
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Lovely_Loyd says:

January 20, 2025 at 1:48 pm

Beautiful. We must keep dreaming and pushing towards equality for all. There are many obstacles in the race, we all can ban together for unity in the community.

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