My Dream

With the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech up on us, I came up with my own take on what it is to dream about the changes needed for a better America.

I have a dream. I have a dream that black boys like Trayvon Martin will no longer have their young lives snuffed out by neighborhood volunteers like George Zimmerman. I have a dream that human predators like Zimmerman be followed on a darkend, rainy night as he head home after buying a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea.

I have a dream the jurors who voted to acquit Zimmerman will someday reap what they sowed. I have a dream that one day NBA Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley will shut up from calling black people racists. I have a dream.

I have a dream that a black police officer subject New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stop-and-frisk. I have a dream that the Tea Party will go back under the rock from which crawled. I have a dream that Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann will go with them.

I have a dream that one day black people will expand their voices beyond the BET experience. Not everyone aspire to be a rapper or video puppet. I have a dream that our young people will one day know what it means to read and speak with articulation. I have a dream that African Americans will stop their consumer whoredom to the multi-billion dollar hair industry and regain their economic power.

I have a dream. I have a dream that voter suppression laws and legislation will one day end. I have a dream that the opportunity to vote will no longer be taken for granted by people of color. I have a dream that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will not be allowed to vote because of the color of his skin.

I have a dream that someday Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will look in the mirror.

I have a dream. I have a dream that Barry Bonds will get into Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame. I have a dream that Alex Rodriguez will not get into the Hall of Fame. I have a dream that media outlets go after other dogfighting rings with the same intensity they went after Michael Vick.

I have a dream that one day black quarterbacks will no longer be identifiable with the Running Man.

I have a dream that one day black players once again take a stand on matters that affect their race. I have a dream that one day black players in the NBA and NFL will step up to their respective commissioners and ask if their heritage be formally acknowledged the same way they are asked to celebrate other cultures.

I have a dream. I have a dream that one day America will formally acknowledge slavery was and has been the country’s most unforgivable sin. I have a dream that movies like “The Butler” and The Help” are someday buried right alongside the  racist Jim Crow laws that forced black men and women into employment servitude.

I have a dream that racial equality will actually come to fruition in the telling of our stories.  I have a dream that work and housing status for black people is placed on the same level playing field as every other American.

I have a dream that one day the NCAA and college universities will stop exploiting their student-athletes for profit.  I have a dream that student-athletes will get paid for the use of their likeness and images which the NCAA and college universities have pimped for years for their own greed and benefit.

I have a dream that one day student-athletes on scholarship will finally stand up for themselves and take a stand and conduct a strike against their lucrative benefactors until they get paid.  I have a dream that the black and brown communities will rally up against the perpetrators of violence in their neighborhoods so that our children can walk down the streets in peace.

I have a dream that I can one day be considered a great reporter not just a good black reporter. I have a dream that my four sons never see the day of being subjected to police racial profiling. I have a dream that I see the day of those who are last will some day be first.  I have a dream the judgment of equality will be more fulfilled through the works of action rather than the empty promises of hallowed words.

Dennis J. Freeman

Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com