Becoming The Dream

The True Way To Honor A King

When I think about what honor means

To truly honor the life of king

Honor of a man

Honor of a Dream

Can not be neatly tucked in a few poems

Or really displayed in a paragraph of prose

The true honor comes in living

In putting feet to pavement

And walking in integrity

It is in words that bring justice

That is where and how you honor a Dream

Through words and actions that create an atmosphere

Of love for self but more importantly love for your brother

It is about unity

The unity of all people

Every where

On every shore

Rising in knowledge and in power

This is how you honor a legend laid to rest

To honor a King that gave his best

Even down to his last breath

He was focussed on a promise

To prove what the Dream means

You find a way to incorporate his Legacy

Not by remembering for a day

Not by recalling for an hour

As you rehearse a speech

That has become a memorial

To a principle you see dying daily

You honor the Dream

By respecting yourself and others

By learning how to be non-confrontational

While confronting the world

And becoming a mirror

Of social injustice

So that those that wish to ignore

Can no longer play blind

But that is hard to do

When it is you

Wearing blindfold

Caught in the matrix of daily comings and goings

And you don’t know what your kids do

While you work to buy them the latest tennis shoes

You honor a Dream

By raising your level of brotherhood

Beyond the confines and restraints of skin

By broadening your scope

And raising your fist in opposition

Of injustice and unfair treatment

Of people anywhere

And of any shade

And then you become informed

Of the full truth

And the broad range of a movement

That was moving beyond civil rights

Into social and economic empowerment

For all of those that are less fortunate

Realizing that in order to make a Dream live

You must find a way to build people up

So that they can change the fabric of society

For what good is it change who sits

On the throne in the White House

When you are one step from sleeping on the streets

And for some that is a step up

It is about realizing that we must take the hands

Of our young men and women

And teach them to honor themselves

To show them that manners and character

Will take them farther than blunts and guns

For when you say you honor something

It is not remembered only on a day

It helps to form your patterns of thinking

It is entrenched in your stride

As you bury the N word

Remembering those that died

Trying to be freed

From the chains carried in that name

Yet somehow we esteem the N word now

And on a day

On one day

We lift the Dream up high

To watch it fade with tomorrow

As the headlines die

And the sensationalism passes

But do we raise our fist?

Do we continue to raise our voices?

Do we raise our tongues

When the camera isn’t on

When no one else can see

And there is no united front

And the podium is empty

Waiting for a speech of life to come forth

But there is no body there

That cares enough

To give up comforts of home

And travel alone

To incorporate a change beyond their own homes

But what is to be expected when inside the walls

Of your family

People are neglected

And you don’t even respect your mate

We must rise

From within

And then begin

With family and friends to rise

Into a Dream that is living and breathing

Taking our communities in our hands

And shaping them in love and integrity

It isn’t about taking a day off

At the beginning of the week

To squeeze in your rest

To do odds and ends

And have lunch with friends

While grinning over a latte

My how far we have come...

It is about an exit strategy

Taking our youth by the hand

And educating them

Beyond the field of hoop Dreams

Beyond the raps of cheddar and cream

Beyond the ghetto mentalities

We seem to be glorifying lately

Not that being from a place of poverty is a bad thing

Yet there was a time we wanted to reach

For bigger and better things

We wanted to show the world

That education wasn't something wasted on us

That we deserved much more than the back of the bus

More than the back door

People sweat and bled

So that we can enter into a life being well read

Well spoken women and men

Now we take it as English is better spoken broken

See living a Dream

Means understanding what that means

It is taking action on our streets

And bringing encouragement where there is defeat

It is about showing things don't have to stay the same

We all have the power to promote growth and change

In positive ways

We can fix what is so far gone

Bring back the power of family to the home

So you can keep your Martin Luther King poems

And all your I have a Dream themes

Unless you're ready to walk and fight

March and strike

And spend many sleepless nights

With fists raised strong and proud

Saying it loud

We shall over come someday

As a people and a nation

The only way to truly honor a King

Is to continue down the road

He was bravely trying to pave

To make brighter days for many

True honor is not in word

But in deed

To do his name justice

We must live the Dream

And become it

Make it a reality.

 

Was it all for nothing?

Reviews

[forfila]

This is amazing, a truly remarkable discription of the title "Becoming The Dream"

You speak of such righteouss thoughts you wish to be actions, I really do love it, and on all levels feel the same.

My favorit lines in this one are
"becoming a mirror

Of social injustice

So that those that wish to ignore

Can no longer play blind

But that is hard to do

When it is you

Wearing blindfold"

It makes such perfect sense to me.
Nice poem=)

Love,
Me