"100 years later, the negro still is not free," activist and civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said during his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
In many ways, we are reliving the Civil Rights Movement, but the question is: Are we living the MLK Dream?
The answer is yes, and no, for a few different reasons.
If we reflect on the freedoms we've gained over the last 50 or so years, it's clear to see that all hope is not lost. We have the right to vote, to sit at the same table in the same room as our white counterparts, and to drink water from the same fountains. Legally, we are set and ready to go.
However, some attitudes in regards to social justice remain the same. It's as if we're not allowed to get mad or be angry about the killings of our brothers and sisters; We cannot protest the flag because it is unholy to object in a country that "let you in", or that "let you drink from the same fountains," as if this country was not stolen in the first place.
Dr. King was an advocate for non-violence and peaceful protests and it seems as though over the next few generations non-violence was put on the back burner. The newer generations appear to be more militant about producing change.
During the '60s, there were movements countering Dr. King's, such as the Black Panther Party and Stokely Carmicheal's Black Power Movement. These movements caused a huge uproar and many of their mission statements challenged Dr. King's. They thought he was being too nice, and in turn, achieving little.
They facilitated separation for the most part, rather than integration and in many cases, this lumped all activists together; creating fear of all black faces. The same can be said for the Black Lives Matter Movement.
People can only see what's shown to them if it will help justify their beliefs. When violence broke out within various BLM protests, that is all some people associated with the movement. Though the two movements, BLM and The Civil Rights movement, was separated by a few decades, the social issues and overall emotion are parallel.
Politically, it seems as though we are moving backward with the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump nearing.
"After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. And such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic," President Barack Obama said during his Farewell Address. "Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society."
It's no new feat for politicians, from Nixon to Clinton, to smear the image of black people. War on drugs and the idea of the "super-predator" are key indicators of this.
The wage gap between black men and white men hasn't narrowed but possibly expanded, due to mass incarceration.
On the contrary, it is relatively novel that a business man, equipped with nothing more than flagrant opinions and insults, could come in and further normalize outright discrimination against people of color.
So, are we living the MLK Dream?
In some aspect, yes. But we have some work to do.
Dr. King believed in unity and togetherness. He had faith in his people, which is something not many of us can say today. We see failure as an opportunity to gripe and be pessimistic but, "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope," Dr. King said.
"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."
It's not over yet. We can still make this dream a reality.
