"Let The Dream Live On”
by Natalie Nelson, Esq.

  Why did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dream about Freedom and Equality?  What does his Dream mean to us today?   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted us to live in love and peace in a community free of poverty, racism and war.

  It was only several years ago that former President Ronald Reagan signed into law legislation that set aside the third Monday of January as a National Holiday to Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today, in almost every state of the United States, including the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands we pause to honor the man, his message and his mission.

  Let’s break it down and look around us.   Are we living Dr. King’s legacy with Honor and Dignity? In the way he would want us to do.  Gathered here today, we are celebrating a man who stood for peace, yet we the United States of America are considered one of the most powerful and most violent nations in the world.

  Today, we pay tribute and honor to a man who stood for justice, but yet still we are subjected to injustices and discrimination and the poor are getting poorer, while the rich get richer.  Where’s the real justice? 

Today we pay tribute to a man who fought for economic justice, yet people of color are denied loans to buy homes and to, start their own businesses.  We are the subject of statistics that according to the U.S. Census Bureau, many of us are living in poverty or below the poverty line right here in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  How can that be?  What are we doing wrong?

  Today we commemorate a man who fought and gave his life for equality, yet today people of color are still judged, in certain instances, first by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character.

  Today we honor a man whose very life stood for love, peace and non violence.  Yet today we are killing each other freely.  We are losing our young men 16, 17, 18, 19, early 20’s, one brother at a time.  Losing them forever to death by guns and violence, gang wars and turf wars.  Where did we go wrong?  Who’s looking at the higher power, those who are making it possible for these guns to circulate in our little community?

  You see, I wasn’t asked to sugar coat anything.  I have got to tell it like it is.  How dare we say we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when we allow these dishonorable things to happen in our community.

  Today, we are called as a people to honor this man with more than just this Holiday.  We must honor him with our actions.  Let our actions speak louder than our words.  Then and only then can we be taken seriously.

  Until the day comes when we are willing to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with consistent, liberating and positive actions, we treat him as a prophet without honor.  It is very easy to honor a true prophet simply with words.  But the real challenge and test is “what am I doing to make things better”.  Today let us not pay lip service to the memory of this honorable man, who has helped to bring us where we are today.

  Let us honor, love and respect him by picking up where he left off.  He will be proud of us all.  Let us use this National Holiday not to sit around and be lazy, but use it to build and nurture better racial understanding, love, peace, friendship and cooperation.

  We cannot simply find the way to relate to each other.  As people from different races, color, and  ethnicity, we must create and foster an environment open to working together, understanding, each other, teaching each other, and accepting each other for who we are.

  Let us teach our children to love each other, to help their neighbor and to uphold self respect for our youth, especially our young men.  We have to teach them to understand the concept of non violence or nonexistence.

  Yes, the key to our connection with the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is education.  Educating our children, educating ourselves, educating each other, because it’s about saving ourselves.

  Those of us committed to the labor movement realize and can appreciate the importance of keeping Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message alive. The further we move away from Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, the more vulnerable we become and the greater the  risk that our future generations will be lost and never know their past.  It is our obligation to make sure that never happens, because a people who doesn’t know their past, cannot build their future.

  Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of love, peace, non violence and unity is a dream that evolves from the kingdom of God.  It is for everyone, of every color, in every nation, in every time, of every religion, for every just cause.  In order for us to carry out this important message, that sustains us as a people, we need to choose individuals and leaders who are not self seeking and energized by a selfish mission.

  Just like Dr. King did, sometimes a person has to be willing to speak out against injustice; put his life on the line, point fingers, call names, expose fakes and double standards; speak even when no one is listening; go where no one will follow and stand even when he has to stand all alone.

  We need leaders who cannot be bought with money, position or power.  People are tired of leaders that are selling out, making deals for personal gain.  Some people get a little power, a little money, a little influence and they lose all perspective.  They even forget where they came from.

  But, let us not judge or condemn or cast stones.  It is our responsibility and our obligation to convert them, bring them back home and make them accountable for their actions.  That is the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, alive and well in all of us.  We cannot rest until justice is justice for all, no matter the color of your skin.  We cannot rest until the poor stop getting poorer, until health care is universal and not just for those who can afford health insurance.

  Our schools are falling apart, our economy is shaky, our government is struggling with corruption.  Drugs are killing our people.  We need to listen to those who follow the words an example of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  We can give true honor to Dr. King by committing our lives and our actions to those things for which he gave his life.

  Those of us that are fortunate to know about this great man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knows he gave his life for justice, for all people, of all colors, democracy for all people, truth for all people, peace for all people and love for all people.

Let not his assassination be in vain, less we assassinate ourselves and our future as a people.  I say to all of you my brother and sisters we cannot rest until, until our community is drug free.  We cannot rest until our schools are places for learning and not battleground for our children.

  We cannot rest until our killing of each other cease and our young men are no longer threatened by extinction.  We cannot rest until our employers and management respect our work, value our work and acknowledge that we have Employment Rights and Civil Rights that cannot be trampled upon.

  We cannot rest until President Bush stops the fighting, cease the war and find a way to sit and negotiate our differences civilly.  We cannot rest until our children’s future are secure and guns are not an everyday reality and respect for human life is a priority.

  If we are serious abut the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we have to get serious about our actions and not just pay lip service.

  Like Dr. Martin Luther King, let us be people of faith, molders and shakers, because as Dr. King said “Ultimately, a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

  In all you do, stay grounded, keep the faith and God Bless.