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As we commemorate the 86^th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King it is a good time to reflect on where this nation called the United States of America has come from and where it is headed.  Many of those who began the fight for civil rights have transitioned away from this existence and never had the opportunity to taste the fruits of their labor.  Civil rights advocates, from the national leaders to the local community, began a fight years ago to compel those of European heritage to stop their practices of discrimination towards those of African descent.  As history has noted, those fights were often brutal, yet those civil right soldiers who fought the fights; who marched the marches; who protested peacefully, did not waiver in their determination to make this nation look at itself and realize it was not living up to its creed.

And now we come to the 86^th birthday celebration of Dr. King and change has come.  The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 have improved opportunities, not just for Blacks, but society as a whole.  Community schools have improved and college education is more accessible.  Blacks are successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, mayors and governors.  We have been the beneficiaries of those civil rights workers who dared to dream a reality that many understood they would never see.  Dr. King, himself, wouldn’t have imagined that a young man born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and White mother would someday be the president of the United States.

So where are we today?  Discrimination still exists.  Bigotry hasn’t been eradicated.  Prejudice still persists.  The unrest in our communities is real.  The desperation and hopeless doesn’t magically disappear with a new sunrise.  Those who have had the opportunity to taste the fruit generated by the civil rights movements, have to find ways today to share the fruit.  We have to find ways to help the hopeless.  We have to find ways to brighten spirits where darkness wants to reside.  We have to provide encouragement in places where people believe it can’t exist.

Seventy years ago, those who began the fight for civil rights had the same challenges.  They had to somehow convince the hopeless, the naysayers, the desperate, and the darkened souls that it could be better.  That is the same challenge today.  As we remember Dr. King remember that the push for progress is not always easy.  All kinds of impediments exist solely to throttle progress, but it has been proven that Black people in this country have a strong and proud foundation to build upon.  Dr. King would tell you that.  He would also tell you that even at the darkest of night, the light of day is never far away.

SAM

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