Where do we go from here?

On Jan. 20, the U.S. celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Day. This little-known Baptist preacher in  Atlanta in 1954 came to be celebrated in all 50 states with a holiday and more recently a Service Day. He would have been proud to see the movement grow in observance yet much of his dream still needs to be fulfilled. Beginning with Rosa Parks refusal to sit in the back of the bus, he organized boycotts of buses, lunch counters, and other public places until they changed their biased laws. A man of moral character, King was able to motivate thousands of blacks and whites to march for racial equality and to counter violence with non-violence.

Fifty years ago, he had a dream "that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood." Yet fewer than half (45%) of all Americans and only 32 percent of African-Americans say the country has made significant progress toward achieving racial equality. A large majority of African-Americans feel we are still far from equal justice for all, especially when dealing with the police and the courts. There is still too much discrimination toward people of color and too many segregated neighborhoods.

The Service Day idea was added to the holiday a few years ago. It is a noble idea, but not too widespread yet. Service opportunities with whites and blacks cooperating together to make the world better would be a noteworthy step forward.

We need more people who are willing to speak the truth to power in our time, to risk their lives so there will be equal opportunity for all. Martin Luther King led the way. He believed that God would help him overcome the injustices, the bigotry, the brutality toward blacks. Americans today must carry the torch all the way to the finish line; King would have done so if he had lived. His dream must become our dream. We cannot be satisfied until it becomes a reality.