In the forty years since the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I spent my April 4Th (which for me was really April 5Th because I am in Korea) in solitude. I spent my time alone reflecting on the life and legacy of a man who dedicated his life to the meliorate of society. Dr. King struggle on the surface would look like a struggle for the equal rights of the Black American but if one would look deeper the civil rights struggle was a struggle for all Americans and I would argue that it was a struggle for all humans. Dr. King was not the first to believe in the principles of equality, fairness and justice. Mahatma Gandhi was before Dr. King (one to whom Dr. King drew his nonviolent beliefs from) but before Gandhi there was the story of a man who preached equality and justice. This man story is taught everyday and he was just a carpenters son. We have people today who believe in the principles of nonviolence and equality. Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Nelson Mandela of South Africa are just two who come to mind.

Most Americans like to think that Dr. King's Dream was about Black Americans being treated fairly. That is true but The Dream does not stop there, Dr. King's Dream was all inclusive... It was about the Native American who was displaced and sent to live on a reservation that has no running water in 2008. The Dream was about the Asian that came here with nothing and was sent to work on the rail system for almost nothing. The Dream was about the Hispanic who can only find a job picking fruit on the side of the freeway for only pennies a day. The Dream was about the woman being able to get the same pay for the same job as her male counterpart. The Dream just did not stop on shores of the Atlantic or the Pacific or the shores of Hawaii but that Dream was about the haves and the have nots. The Dream was a dream about true equality economically, educationally and socially for all people.

A friend of mine here in Korea told me a story about how his mother has just an elementary school education because she had to go to work. His father has a high school education. I told him that he was a success story because he was able to go to college and get an education. That was The Dream that Dr. King talked about, the betterment of a society and a people and the responsibility of those in the position to make a difference. We can sit around and be self indulgent or we can sit around a make a difference in our community. The definition of community according to Merriam-Webster: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society. Dr. King knew this and he paid with his life. The Dream must stay alive and for that to happen we must do our part.