A Letter To Dr. King
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Politics and Activism

A Letter To Dr. King

Your dream is very much alive and still in progress.

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A Letter To Dr. King
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Dear Brother in Heaven,

I write to you today with enormous gratitude and concern. As your birthday approaches, I’ve been reflecting on the hard-fought battles in our war against racism, oppression, and injustice. I write with gratitude because the echoes from your numerous speeches still influence our ears today.

The ink on your "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"made a genius and nearly perfect blueprint for our nation as a unit, and the paths that you traveled during your countless peaceful protests are still guiding many of us 50 years later.

However, I am concerned because there is not enough of us today following your generation’s lead. I’m afraid that over time we have strayed away from the main principles which were demandingly fought for; justice, freedom, love, equality, and unity.

I vigorously feel that we all need a reminder from time to time of all the things you’ve done for us, and there is no better time than now. We lack the leadership that is vitally needed in order for our voices to truly be heard and for change to genuinely takes place. I write this letter to you as a young, confident yet nervous Afro-Latino man.

Confident that the issues we are facing as a nation will be solved. Nervous because unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how. It has been 50 years since you’ve been gone, and many magnificent events have occurred. But as you know from first-hand experience, dark occasions come hand and hand with these substantial happenings.

The media is blinding my generation from the truth and what is candidly important. All of the characteristics that your generation fought stupendously hard for have been washed down the faucet due to many factors that are still being discovered today.

One of the main factors is my generation being secluded from our real history and current events that really matter. Most of our information comes from social media platforms which at times are served to us as biased and misinformed pieces from the actual story. This leads to millions of people sharing and telling a story that is halfway true and believing it just because they saw it on Twitter or Facebook.

Another factor of our downfall is the attention which is spent on minor issues. We spend a lot of time discussing topics which do not affect our lives in any way. Then we complain when our government doesn’t shed enough light on the major issues.

Issues such as police officers murdering innocent unarmed people and walking away with no consequence, women still earning less money for doing the same job as a man, and white supremacists sending death threats to Colin Kaepernick for expressing his political beliefs in the utmost respectable way. These are the essential problems which we should all be concerned about.

Instead of putting the fire out, we continue to fuel it. Knowing that our leader is not interested in helping us, we still feed him the attention that he strategically wants to receive. I don’t even know where to begin with his ignorance, stupidity, and inhumane actions which can truly be turned into an entire separate letter. But this letter is not for him or anyone like him.

This letter is for you, to thank you as well as update you on the status of our seemingly everlasting fight for justice and to ask for guidance. Lord knows we need it now more than ever. We need fewer people trying to confront Donald Trump on Twitter and more people actually making a difference in their communities, influencing change for the better on a much more personal level. We need more people leading by example just as your generation executed so greatly.

2017 felt like a huge step backward compared to the previous eight years. Although the Obama years weren’t flawless by any means, (what president actually had a perfect campaign?) it certainly did feel like progress was moving forward and we were heading in the right direction. Many of the issues today were very much alive during the previous presidency, but I feel that even more have emerged from underneath the carpet due to the enraged tension between us and Trump.

I must say, I am glad that he is president. I feel that as a nation we needed a monumental wakeup call and he is the loudest most ignorant and unkind ringtone ever. Once we realize we are more powerful together than segregated, true change will come. The hole which we are in will become less steep, and more people would shift their attention towards the principal elements in life; justice, freedom, love, equality, and unity.

Since you can only guide us in spirit, I pray that you keep looking over us in good faith as I’m sure you always have been for the last 50 years. I’m confident we will find our way and get back on the path you created. Your dream is very much alive and still in progress. Thank you for everything and Happy 89th birthday my brother.

Sincerely,

Isaiah Diaz-Mays

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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