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 Roots to Rap
Rahiel Tesfamariam
Columnist Page
Friday, January 14, 2005; Page 16
A Dream Deferred: How Long Will It Wait?
There is probably not a single African American in this country that has not at some point in time heard the moving and eloquent words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech. But there are perhaps many who have yet to ever hear Langston Hughes ask, “What Happens to a Dream Deferred?”.
Everyday millions of people who should hold onto the passion and determination that Dr. King exuded when he spoke those words are dragged down by deferred dreams that sag “like a heavy load”.
Sometimes those dreams are embodied in our careers but at other times they reflect the world that we hope to live in one day. Many believe that ideal world can simply be achieved in their own personal security and peace of mind whereas others don’t know how to enjoy their own freedom and tranquility until it can be shared with many.
But there are days when it seems that all our deferred dreams die at once. Days when we begin to fear that we have forgotten how to dream or that we have no dreams left in us.
December 26, 2004, a day that snatched the focus of the global community away from oil, wars, elections and corruption, will be remembered by many as one in which the world stopped dreaming, but perhaps we must look at it differently, “the earth’s rebellion” my friends calls it.
What is now known as one of the deadliest disasters in human history points to a planet in social and environmental turmoil. According to the BBC website, “254 million people were affected by natural hazards last year - nearly three times as many as in 1990”. The soil that we stand on is caving into the weight of the burdens and demands that we put on it: the conception of babies in the midst of recklessness and the degradation of all that lives and breathes among us.
Shamika Solomon, a Master’s student at Howard University, told me that the tsunami tragedy helped her realize God’s Ever Present nature so much more. Like many she is trying to understand the Creator’s role in an event that shattered everything it touched. “Maybe it is a part of His wrath. Maybe it is a part of the revelation for us but I think, too, that it shows His mercy because there was mercy on the survivors and mercy on those who did actually die because the way the state of the world is now, there’s no better place to be than with Him.”
All of history has pointed to the fact that rebellion becomes inevitable when neglect has been suffered for too long. It is my belief that this planet’s dreams for us have been deferred for so long that it has no choice now but to give up hope- hope in us and its own ability to press forward. It will rebel over and over again in all of its corners, impacting everything it encounters, as long as we ignore its cries.
Catherine DeVrye, author of “Hope Happens”, reminds me that “whatever our country by birth or by choice, now is the time to unite with one voice. As we look to the future with respect for the past, and strive in the present for dreams that will last, to reach our potential as one and a nation giving all a fair go without hesitation. And regardless of faith, to keep faith...in our future, our planet and ourself.”
So some of us have hopes that things will get better. Others of us know that it won’t. But many of us know that in the midst of chaos we must find the time to nourish dreams, for reality of this world will not give us enough to live off of.
For Rahiel Tesfamariam send email to rahielt@washingtoninformer.com. |
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