The DREAM and the DREAMER

This article was originally published by Terryl Ross for Tacoma’s Northwest Dispatch in 1990.

"Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness--justice."
Martin Luther King, Jr. Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?--1967

It's 1968. Dad's in Nam, my twin, Terrence, and I are 8-year-old Black boys living in Fort Lewis, Washington. Martin Luther King, Jr. dies. I'm not old enough to understand why the news of his death causes sadness to all around me, but I do remember Mom's tears. I'm not old enough to understand the meaning of the Civil Rights Movement, but I am old enough to remember the feeling of pride and unity that flowed among my diverse community. I'm not old enough to understand the significance of the dream, but I am old enough to understand the dreamer.

My brother, Lance, who is three years younger, is too young to understand either. He does not remember the day Martin Luther King died, and like all of the Black kids who will follow him, he will have to read about it in books. He will not be taught the importance of the dream, he will be taught the importance of the dreamer.

And oh what a dreamer he was. He carried the souls of despair on his shoulders and proudly marched his people to the footsteps of the mountain of freedom. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. His face has forever been etched in the pages of history books. His birthday has become a national holiday. He became the dreamer we all learned about.

But what about his dream?

Have we been spending so much time focusing in on the dreamer that we have ignored the dream? How many of us have read his words and know his dream? How many of us know what he lived for and what he died for? Did he not teach us to focus in on the future not the past? Did he not show us the virtue of faith over doubt? Would he not want us to focus in on the dream and not the dreamer?

If we focus in on the dreamer, he is dead and will never return. But if we focus in on the dream, it is alive and yearns to be realized.

Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed that we would put all our faith in God and combat injustice regardless of the outcome. He dreamed of a time when America would fulfill its creed and people would be "judged by the content of our characters and not by the color of our skin." He dreamed of a nation which worshiped the spiritual God, not the corporate one. He dreamed of those who have, freely sharing with those who have not. He dreamed of a world that embraces the virtues of diversity.

It's 1990. Dad survived Nam only to succumb to a 12-year bout with cancer he got from Agent Orange. Terrence would march to make the holiday a reality only to die from that four-letter disease, one year later. I'm a 30-year-old African-American man living in Tacoma, Washington. I'm not old enough to know why our society has turned its back on the dream, but I am old enough to understand the need to fight for it. Santa and the Easter bunny have obscured the true meaning of Christmas and Easter. I fear shopping malls and basketball tournaments will obscure the meaning of this one.

He helped ease society's pain.
Do not let him die in vain.
It is time to join the team
That honors the dreamer by living his dream!

--Terryl Ross

"I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as people will get to the promised land."
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis the night before his assassination--1968