Eighth Letter to Uncle Sam

8/15/13


Dear Uncle Sam,

Greetings from the Silicon Valley.

My thoughts too are about the Man who had a Dream. Whose Dream inspired people around the world to dream their own dreams. On this 50th anniversary of that historic speech, dear Uncle, what do we dare to dream?

Do we dare to dream of a world where different does not mean unequal?

A world where black and brown kids get the same opportunities as white kids, where they too are more likely to be in school than in prison, more likely to read books than deal drugs, more likely to get a job than a bullet, more likely to become a corporate executive than a corpse, where they feel free to walk around the neighborhood in a hoodie without automatically arousing fear or suspicion. Do we dare to dream of such a world?

A world where girls are valued as much as boys, where they too are able to attend school without being attacked or assaulted, where they are not sold into prostitution or trafficked across the world, where they are not turned into trophies or domestic slaves, where they are not treated like objects of exchange, and where they feel free to make their own choices about the clothes they wear, the jobs they do, the men they love, and the families they create. Do we dare to dream of such a world?

A world where people of different sexual orientations have the same rights so they can all openly express love, build relationships, have families, serve God or country, and participate fully in the life of the community. A world where the poor and huddled masses are not expelled with disdain but welcomed ashore with compassion and given a chance to work and live with dignity. Do we dare of dream of such a world.

That’s the world MLK envisioned when he spoke of being judged by the content of one’s character rather than the color of one’s skin. MLK’s inspiration came from the Mahatma, the Great Soul, by whose side my great-grandfather walked on another historic march to make salt from the sea in a country far away that celebrates its independence today. And the Mahatma’s inspiration came from Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel prize-winning poet whose eloquent words are as relevant today as they were a century ago:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Promise, Almighty Uncle, promise we’ll strive to make the dreams of these great visionaries a reality for all.


--CK