I Have a Dream*
*Respect to Martin Luther King Jr. who started the steps toward freedom … now it’s time for us to continue his walk.
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. I hold no designations in politics, economics or medicine. I am retired from the mental health field. I am a humanitarian and speak from that viewpoint only. Whether you agree with me or not, at least I hope it makes you think. This week I look at how we might make the world a better place. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
I entitled this “I Have a Dream” because I am seeing so much in the media lately suggesting that we respect some people, but it is selective. I also remembered Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday January 16th for 2023. It is interesting to note that this is historically a rather recent addition. “In honor of his birthday, MLK Day is celebrated on the third week of January every year. It was signed into law in 1983 and has been celebrated by all 50 states since 2000.” https://www.google.com/doodles/dr-mar... though they do note that his actual date of birth was January 15, this year it was celebrated on the 16th. Why is his day important? It is not just the celebration of the man, but a celebration of his life’s work which was cut short. His work was the start of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Google article. It is sad to see that we’re still fighting a lot of those same battles in 2023. There is still racial inequality. There is still discrimination based on colour, creed, religion and orientation as we are still seeing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Sometimes it feels like some politicians and some religious sorts care more about what is in someone’s pants (to use a sort of rude phrase) than what is in their hearts. This brings us back to Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic speech. When he delivered that speech in 1963, I was a baby in diapers. I’ve read it since. A lot of his speech talked about the freedoms that were not available at the time. One of these is the vote for minorities. There still seems to be a lot of controversy as to the availability of the vote for minority people. There are still other problems. Now, there seems to be a resurgence of problems with minority groups.
The statement from his I Have a Dream speech (which I reference from the article I have a linked to in my podcast write up and my blog post https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701... ) that has always resonated with me and which I found the most inspiring is. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” This has always resonated with me because it talks about people being judged by their character or as I would term it, judged by what is in their hearts. This is the crux of what I see freedom and freedom of speech to be about. People should have the freedom to show that they have a good character. Freedom is to show that you have care for your fellow humans and respect for yourself and others. You do not get to respect some people who are rich and disrespect some who are poor. You don’t get to respect someone who is straight and disrespect someone who is LGBTQ+. You don’t get to choose to disrespect people based on gender, race, religion or orientation. I have found with some politicians and some religious forms, there is a tendency to be more worried about how they present as far as gender and orientation go (or what I term what is in their pants) and less worried about what is in their hearts. What would Martin Luther King Jr. think about this? I don’t know. I would like to think that he would see it as an injustice, but 1963 was a different place and different time. He was arguing for civil rights in a time where people were being murdered for being a particular race, a time where he was murdered because he was standing up for civil rights in a place where they were still using some people as though slaves or worse. Sadly, it seems even these atrocities are still happening in 2023.
Almost 60 years ago, the words that Martin Luther King Jr. said, still ring true today. His words still show people the importance of tolerance and anti-discrimination. We still fight the same fight, though. We still do not have equality and we still have discrimination. Some are still treated as more worthy of life than others. Women are still treated as chattel in some areas. Some people are treated as less worthy because they happen to be different. You know, this was not always the case and not in every culture. This article gives a bit of information about some various cultures that had accepted LGBTQ+ as part of the culture including First Nations people. https://www.buzzfeed.com/claratsacwan... So, there was not always this fear of people who live differently, though it seems throughout the ages to have taken various forms and still does. What created it? Why do people tend to be afraid to accept difference? These sticking points, these fears that people obsessively stick to are destroying our world. They threatened to destroy a whole race of people during the World Wars though Jewish people were not the only ones targeted; they were the race most targeted by the concentration camps. It cost a lot of lives. It cost generations their children, grandchildren, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. The idea that someone is worthy of discrimination or that someone is sinful for having a different lifestyle only pits brother against brother, sister against sister and people against people. We talk about wanting to have a better world. Now the question we need to answer is what do we mean by that and what different world do we want to see? How do we get there? What do we need to change?
As Barack Obama is credited with saying, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” In this, he is correct. This better world that we want to see, it is not going to be changed with protests or with gluing oneself to art work. It will not change with violence and hate. It will only be able to be seen in every one of us taking up the challenge to be better people to improve how we react and act with each other. We cannot say we want a better world and then just sit around and wait for it to happen. It will not be created with violence or with hate for each other or oneself. It will be seen when we decide that there are many different people and that no matter what the religion, race, orientation or gender a person is, they are deserving of respect. It will not successfully be fought with weapons. It will be fought with kindness, respect, acceptance and tolerance and it will have to be fought by every one of us. Not just one group, not just one colour, not just one orientation, not just one gender. I too have a dream that all people no matter the race, colour, religion, orientation, gender, will learn to respect each other and then maybe we can begin to correct the other issues that are present. Until humans can work together, until we see each other as deserving of being able to be the best we can be in the best way that works for us, we are in a stalemate. You see the attitude in politics with the us versus them attitudes. Unless we decide to as John Lennon’s song says, “Give Peace a Chance”, we are never going to be able to move past our petty differences and into a new Golden Age!
As Albert Einstein is credited with saying, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” This has been echoed in various forms by many influential people including Psychologist William James who is credited with saying, “The great revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” Toward this end, I argue that we will not be able to move forward productively unless we learn to change our mindset. We need to look at our thinking and examine the need to change our thinking about each other. We need to understand the importance of our thinking and how it is the one weapon we have that will help us to change our world. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope I made you think. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures! Keep watching because we’re always working on something. Thank you!
The podcast that matches this blog post can be found on Anchor FM: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://aandjpeitreasures.wordpress.com/ and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on:
Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-... name a few
All my e-books can be found on:
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
You can also find us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJS08026749
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zp...
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/ej2466
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/e-j-s-151a...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewAandJP...
Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. I hold no designations in politics, economics or medicine. I am retired from the mental health field. I am a humanitarian and speak from that viewpoint only. Whether you agree with me or not, at least I hope it makes you think. This week I look at how we might make the world a better place. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!
I entitled this “I Have a Dream” because I am seeing so much in the media lately suggesting that we respect some people, but it is selective. I also remembered Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday January 16th for 2023. It is interesting to note that this is historically a rather recent addition. “In honor of his birthday, MLK Day is celebrated on the third week of January every year. It was signed into law in 1983 and has been celebrated by all 50 states since 2000.” https://www.google.com/doodles/dr-mar... though they do note that his actual date of birth was January 15, this year it was celebrated on the 16th. Why is his day important? It is not just the celebration of the man, but a celebration of his life’s work which was cut short. His work was the start of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the Google article. It is sad to see that we’re still fighting a lot of those same battles in 2023. There is still racial inequality. There is still discrimination based on colour, creed, religion and orientation as we are still seeing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Sometimes it feels like some politicians and some religious sorts care more about what is in someone’s pants (to use a sort of rude phrase) than what is in their hearts. This brings us back to Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic speech. When he delivered that speech in 1963, I was a baby in diapers. I’ve read it since. A lot of his speech talked about the freedoms that were not available at the time. One of these is the vote for minorities. There still seems to be a lot of controversy as to the availability of the vote for minority people. There are still other problems. Now, there seems to be a resurgence of problems with minority groups.
The statement from his I Have a Dream speech (which I reference from the article I have a linked to in my podcast write up and my blog post https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701... ) that has always resonated with me and which I found the most inspiring is. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” This has always resonated with me because it talks about people being judged by their character or as I would term it, judged by what is in their hearts. This is the crux of what I see freedom and freedom of speech to be about. People should have the freedom to show that they have a good character. Freedom is to show that you have care for your fellow humans and respect for yourself and others. You do not get to respect some people who are rich and disrespect some who are poor. You don’t get to respect someone who is straight and disrespect someone who is LGBTQ+. You don’t get to choose to disrespect people based on gender, race, religion or orientation. I have found with some politicians and some religious forms, there is a tendency to be more worried about how they present as far as gender and orientation go (or what I term what is in their pants) and less worried about what is in their hearts. What would Martin Luther King Jr. think about this? I don’t know. I would like to think that he would see it as an injustice, but 1963 was a different place and different time. He was arguing for civil rights in a time where people were being murdered for being a particular race, a time where he was murdered because he was standing up for civil rights in a place where they were still using some people as though slaves or worse. Sadly, it seems even these atrocities are still happening in 2023.
Almost 60 years ago, the words that Martin Luther King Jr. said, still ring true today. His words still show people the importance of tolerance and anti-discrimination. We still fight the same fight, though. We still do not have equality and we still have discrimination. Some are still treated as more worthy of life than others. Women are still treated as chattel in some areas. Some people are treated as less worthy because they happen to be different. You know, this was not always the case and not in every culture. This article gives a bit of information about some various cultures that had accepted LGBTQ+ as part of the culture including First Nations people. https://www.buzzfeed.com/claratsacwan... So, there was not always this fear of people who live differently, though it seems throughout the ages to have taken various forms and still does. What created it? Why do people tend to be afraid to accept difference? These sticking points, these fears that people obsessively stick to are destroying our world. They threatened to destroy a whole race of people during the World Wars though Jewish people were not the only ones targeted; they were the race most targeted by the concentration camps. It cost a lot of lives. It cost generations their children, grandchildren, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. The idea that someone is worthy of discrimination or that someone is sinful for having a different lifestyle only pits brother against brother, sister against sister and people against people. We talk about wanting to have a better world. Now the question we need to answer is what do we mean by that and what different world do we want to see? How do we get there? What do we need to change?
As Barack Obama is credited with saying, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” In this, he is correct. This better world that we want to see, it is not going to be changed with protests or with gluing oneself to art work. It will not change with violence and hate. It will only be able to be seen in every one of us taking up the challenge to be better people to improve how we react and act with each other. We cannot say we want a better world and then just sit around and wait for it to happen. It will not be created with violence or with hate for each other or oneself. It will be seen when we decide that there are many different people and that no matter what the religion, race, orientation or gender a person is, they are deserving of respect. It will not successfully be fought with weapons. It will be fought with kindness, respect, acceptance and tolerance and it will have to be fought by every one of us. Not just one group, not just one colour, not just one orientation, not just one gender. I too have a dream that all people no matter the race, colour, religion, orientation, gender, will learn to respect each other and then maybe we can begin to correct the other issues that are present. Until humans can work together, until we see each other as deserving of being able to be the best we can be in the best way that works for us, we are in a stalemate. You see the attitude in politics with the us versus them attitudes. Unless we decide to as John Lennon’s song says, “Give Peace a Chance”, we are never going to be able to move past our petty differences and into a new Golden Age!
As Albert Einstein is credited with saying, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” This has been echoed in various forms by many influential people including Psychologist William James who is credited with saying, “The great revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” Toward this end, I argue that we will not be able to move forward productively unless we learn to change our mindset. We need to look at our thinking and examine the need to change our thinking about each other. We need to understand the importance of our thinking and how it is the one weapon we have that will help us to change our world. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope I made you think. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures! Keep watching because we’re always working on something. Thank you!
The podcast that matches this blog post can be found on Anchor FM: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures/...
Blog Posts are available on
WordPress: https://aandjpeitreasures.wordpress.com/ and
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Podcast are available on:
Anchor FM in a variety of formats: https://anchor.fm/a--j-pei-treasures
iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-e-...
Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/e-... name a few
All my e-books can be found on:
Smashwords (my Affiliate link): https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
You can also find us on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJS08026749
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5zp...
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/ej2466
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/e-j-s-151a...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewAandJP...
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A & J PEI Treasures/E Jean Simpson, BEd, BA, MA
A & J PEI Treasures is located on Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are a husband and wife team and our companion animals. There are a number of things that drew us to the Island…one of which was the n
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