It is now 57 years after Martin Luther King, Jr., shared his dream with America and the rest of the world. What was an empowering, impassioned speech rocked the nation in many ways, and to this day acts as one of the most famous speeches in the world. It’s not hard to see why: he gave the voice to millions of oppressed Black Americans, taking centre stage to tell the Capitol that revolution is upon them and they will not stand for racial discrimination any longer. Sadly, he didn’t live to see his dream concluded. But that is the thing about the Civil Rights Movement, the acts of 1964 and 1968 didn’t stop discrimination. Still remaining legal and societal inequalities dominating Black lives, racism still has a firm grip on America and the world in many cases. So what would be the dream today?

I have a dream. 

I have a dream that anyone can drive down the road at any time and not be shot in the back 7 times in front of their children. 

I have a dream that anyone can go to bed at night with their partner and wake up in the morning comfortably, not by police entering your house unlawfully and killing you instead of someone else.

I have a dream that anyone can accidentally use a counterfeit bill and be held accountable in a legal and professional manner so their correct judgement is brought upon them, and they aren’t suffocated to death on the street. 

I have a dream that innocent Black people aren’t 7 times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people. 

I have a dream that when Black people go to University and college they will see more Black lecturers and scholars, instead of the 6% that Black professors make up currently. 

I have a dream that people are chosen for jobs, college, internships, placements, due to their ability and experience, not their skin colour or economic background. 

I have a dream that the president of the United States doesn’t openly ask for the death penalty to be brought back so he could kill the Central Park Five, a group of terrified wrongly accused children.

I have a dream that regardless of sexual orientation, people can be accepted into society and reap its benefits. 

I have a dream that women can walk down streets at night and not be afraid that they might be raped and killed. 

So as King said, let freedom ring. This is our hope. It has always been the hope. And hope will ring true one day. Victory doesn’t come overnight. It’s hard. It’s long. It’s suffering. It’s losing people to the cause daily. It’s opening the news and being dismayed again by the law enforcement who are supposed to protect us, the leaders who guide us, the news who inform us and the neighbours who report us. 

So yes, let freedom ring, because it is not enough to want little Black girls and boys and little white girls and boys to hold hands together. They need to be able to go to university together, to the workplace together, in the car together. 

It might take a few more dreams along the way but we MUST keep fighting together.

‘Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. We cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. But we must keep walking.’