His Sacrifice, My Freedom

Everyday I rise realizing I can sit, dine and be educated where I please.
I confidently walk the streets knowing blasts from hoses won't bring me to my knees.
While my parents were the first in their counties to integrate,
I've always simply been known as "Phoebe Kenney, classmate."
And King, if you refer to the Black women, the Queen as a ho, treat her with disrespect, judge her beauty on how light her skin or how straight her hair...
You're not building the Dream, you're contributing to the original nightmare.
And Queen, remember after hundreds of years of being beat down, depressed, told he was nothing,
That Black man is not a "nigga" but a King.
My parents, aunts and grandparents marched, fought and sacrificed.
My freedom is a child of their dream.
So I remain awake, eyes open, clear in the future vision.
Marching forward with grace and respect for Dr. King's Dream has been realized.
Everyday is a day to strengthen each other --
Sister, brother, regardless of color.
This one day is a simple reminder for every freedom for which Dr. King peacefully fought but violently lost his life.
A man and his Dream - to be celebrated not just 1 day but all 365.

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968).  Amazingly it took 18 years for the federal holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, to be observed.  The federal holiday was observed for the first time January 20, 1986.