America's Dream is My Dream

The first night I arrived in Denver, I had a powerful dream.

I was sitting in a cafe with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and

I was saying to him that the most profoundly important thing he had ever said was

"The time is always right to do right."

I told him that I have adopted this as my motto in life.

Upon waking, I felt a sense of peace and righteousness that calmed any worries or petty anxieties I might have about the path laid out before me.

This was the second epiphany dream I have had featuring MLK--the first one was about 10 years ago, when I dreamed that I saw MLK in the middle of a riot, and walked over to him, prostrating myself before him and kneeling down.

He was giant-sized and seemed God-like to me. I had my hands clasped in prayer position, and he bent down and took my hands.

He lifted me up with his hands until I stood with him, our eyes met and he communicated to me without words a sense that I am worthy and my work is important--I am not just a small girl at the foot of a mythic superhero.




I am an active participant in this world,

able to enact change and work for social justice.








Today Toshi and I visited the Martin Luther King Monument in Denver's City Park.

The powerful memorial was erected in 2002.

It features statues of Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Mahatma Gandhi.



Surrounding the statues in the four cardinal directions were stone carvings with a timeline of civil rights in America paired with Dr. King's words.






Within the stone carvings were these detailed depictions of the Black civil rights struggle in America. it was incredibly powerful, and neither of us were expecting to be affected as deeply as we were by this monument to Dr. King and others who have given their lives to the struggle for civil rights and social justice for all people.



Toshi and I both had strong emotional reactions to the monument and reflected on the moment, having just heard Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party's nomination for president on the anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech and the March on Washington. When we got to the part of the monument which was inscribed with the quote about Dr. King's "four little children" living in a world where they are "judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character," Toshi allowed me to interview him about his thoughts and feelings about this monument and this moment in our history:



Yesterday, we arrived at Invesco Field yesterday just as the tribute to Dr. King began. We watched the video below and I cried:



Dr. King's children spoke eloquently in support of Barack Obama. His daughter began her speech: "Tonight, freedom rings from the snow-capped mountains of Colorado..."



Martin Luther King III asserted that his father would have been so proud of Barack Obama: