Togetherness: A Reflection on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Dream

I just finished, as I do every year on this day, listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, given in 1963. From the powerful imagery and words to the eloquent power of his voice, this speech still captures a huge audience, especially today.

Our world still is not up to par with his dreams. For example there is still racism and "police brutality" against those who are African American. There is still tension among the races. There is still discrimination, within our society, our country and this world. In order to achieve the dream of Dr. MLK Jr., we need better understanding of each other and less judging others on first glance or even after first glance. We do not know everything that is going on in someone's life. Sometimes I have to remind myself that the person who is in front of me in the grocery store who is giving the cashier a very difficult time may have just lost someone close. It all begins with patience, a hard concept in our world who wants instant gratification.

Before listening to his speech, I was working on a free online course which examined how our words can have a lot of meaning and power. We must be careful not only in our words but also, sometimes more powerful, our actions.

Nobody should be discriminated against, whether they are black/white, LGBTQ/straight or any other ways that we seem to categorize and separate you and me against other people.

We need more love, more understanding, more peace, more togetherness and cohesiveness. Like Dr. MLK Jr's dream, I also have dreams for this world to experience more peace and more love than ever seen before. But it does not start with me; it needs to start with each of us. Next time you see someone sitting alone in the cafeteria at your school or work, go and sit by them. Next time you see someone being made fun of or put down, stand up for that person.

May we all strive to achieve as well as grow Dr. MLK Jr's dream in whatever way we see fit. May we strive to change this world for the better. May we strive for togetherness rather than separation. May we strive for moving forward as a world rather than regression.