Many people can recite the words of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech about black and white children walking hand in hand as sisters and brothers. He also had a dream about former slaves and former slave owners. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” (Martin Luther King Jr.) The table of brotherhood can be powerful with uniting any group of people.
We live in a divided society. Some people believe we cannot speak to those who think or believe differently than them, much less look differently than them. Others believe that they cannot tolerate those whose political views differ from them because they do not have knowledge, wisdom, or anything worthy of being a human being. Maybe social media divided us. Maybe our schools have failed our young people. Maybe people just found unique ways to remain prejudiced against people who live differently, think differently, and believe differently than them.
No matter how hard you try to justify it, prejudice ruins a society. We cannot fight prejudices alone. We must work together to slay the incorrect ideas that lie in the depths of the heart of the nation. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted justice for all people. He wanted justice and equality. He didn’t want us to be enemies, but to join in brotherhood. Brotherhood. The word brotherhood means we stand together knowing that blood is thicker than water with those with whom we stand.
I am a Duke basketball fan. Any basketball player that ever played at Duke has become part of the brotherhood. The blood of the Duke basketball family runs thick, even for players that may not have had good relations with other players. When a Duke basketball player, current or former, excels or fails, the entire brotherhood rejoices or mourns. They stand together.
Brotherhood means you stick together and work together to build a dynasty. Duke basketball receives hate from other college basketball programs. Do you know why? A Duke hater admitted that everyone hates Duke because they are so darn good. Imagine if America followed Martin Luther King’s dream of people working tighter in brotherhood and sisterhood. Imagine the force and dynasty our country would have. Other countries may hate us, but hating someone because they use unity to build a dynasty comes from jealousy.
Building bridges brings strength. Tearing down bridges creates chaos. Chaos brings fights and wars. People in our society, dissatisfied with their own lives, want to create chaos, fights, and wars. They create chaos over words, names, and religious battles that they don’t understand. They do this all in the name of justice and equality. Division does not bring justice or equality.
I may not understand all the words of Martin Luther King Jr. I may not understand all the injustices that have developed in our society or still remain in our society. I do see the injustices in education, and instead of the leaders working to fix them, they decided to fight over issues that have nothing to do with injustices, and the real injustices stay in place, but with a united group of people fighting for children, they will end.
People will criticize how you celebrate this holiday. Let them criticize. Challenge yourself to right a wrong. It can be within your family, church, schools, or community. If individuals would begin to work on injustices within their own lives, then the world will become the place that they desire. It just takes a little bit of work. Find a way to create a community of brotherhood or sisterhood around you. The strength of others will strengthen you. May we find the strength to fight for the freedom and justice for all.
