In memory of Mrs. Rosa Parks

“I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die — the dream of freedom and peace.”
-Rosa Parks


So said Mrs. Rosa parks some time ago. As we get older, as some of us have already felt, we are beginning to question the younger ones in regards to their aspirations and what inspires them. How is that after all that has been done and achieved can such progressive actions(regardless of whether said judges of inspiration are qualified to do so) bring about so different results? Have we lost the ability to dream and to inspire? Or is it that what we are dreaming about not what was intended. As if to say, they are glad that we do dream, but does it have to be about champaigne bottles and material goods?

Personally, I feel that we are dreamers who dream a myriad of visions. That being the African-Americans that we are, that we are indeed NOT monolithic in vision nor lifestyle, our dreams vary from one person to the next. Sometimes the changes can be a s profound as the dream itself. But the changes can also be a miniscule as say the persons in the dream. "Just place my face over his"(c) S. Carter

Still, I feel that those who follow their dreams and get recognized and congratulated by the larger groups for making their dreams come true coming out from the Black community are somehow the ones who are just doing what Mr. carter said. In that those who are dreaming and being awarded accolades, are only dreaming similar dreams in regards to their peers. That those who we say are living their dreams are all dreaming the same thing. In the larger sense they are being recognized and those who dream otherwise are not being recognized as prominent by the masses.

One has to seriously ask about those who dream different dreams, what comes of them. As Hansberry asked, does it shrivel up like a raisin in the sun? If not recognized and encouraged to fight and to subsequently live that dream, than the answer is indeed yes. Although strides have been made to secure the pursuit of happiness and to live out our lives the way they SHOULD be, there is still an outside force present that is dictating to US how we should live them! We cannot depend on those who may say that they have our interests in their hearts or on their minds to help us solely in pursuing our dreams. Our visions. No, that is too one sided and not very grounded. That will only lead to more despair than fulfillment. More tribulations than triumph. More apathy than inspiration. What we must do is harvest those dreams ourselves by our own hands. With the help of those who SAY that they share our interests.

Because if they truly do have OUR interests, than they should not have a problem in US dictating what we want from our dreams to become reality.

R.I.P.