BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Martin Luther King Jr. used his own education to empower people to improve their lives.
The education he gave the nation -- in his actions, his words and the legendary 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech -- is still strong, if not adapted to the times and issues of the 1990s.
As the country celebrates the civil rights leader's 70th birthday today, Tristate students and educators share their own dreams for the nation and world.
The sentiments have not changed much since Aug. 28, 1963, when the Rev. Dr. King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and shared his vision for a better life. with millions.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
Growing up in Lincoln Heights, Roderick Hinton had plenty of dreams. He became more determined to reach them each time his family and friends told him he'd never amount to anything.
"That's the expectation there," the Xavier University senior said. "It was a bad neighborhood -- no one had jobs and there was a lot of drug dealing. No one from my family ever went to college.
"I just didn't see people progressing anywhere, and that was all the motivation I needed to get out."
Mr. Hinton, 22, now serves on Xavier's student government and is studying organizational communication, or "business without all the math." He has been interviewing with area businesses and hopes to land a job locally.
"My dream is along the lines of Martin Luther King's -- that we can live without prejudice and people can find equality. But back in the day, it used to be black-white equality. Now I want equality for gay people, for whites, for blacks, for disabled people, for everyone."
I have 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 the table of brotherhood.
Mike Chirumbolo, a Northern Kentucky University junior from Kenwood, said his visions for the future also mirror what the Rev. Dr. King hoped for.
"There are things in the dream that were never attained, but we're getting closer," Mr. Chirumbolo said. "All the problems with racism. It has gotten better. But you still hear about people getting beat up because of how they look."
Last fall, black and white students from Kentucky State University and Georgetown College worked with the white descendants of the Archibald Gaines family, digging for artifacts on the farm where Margaret Garner -- immortalized in Toni Morrison's novel Beloved -- was a slave.
It was an exercise in history and spirituality, said Anne Butler, director of Kentucky State University's Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans. She hopes the dig leads to a serious discussion about slavery. If Sean Peters, 12, a sixth-grader from Columbia Elementary School in the Kings Local School District could
write his own "I Have a Dream" speech today, he would focus on ending racism.
"I have a dream that in this world today we would not have any war to break out between our countries and racism would stop because we're all created equal when we're born," Sean said.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
Michael Washington, history professor at Northern Kentucky University, wants to see the values of social equality and justice become an integral part of society.
"We need open discussions in the workplace, schools, places of worship and homes," Mr. Washington said.
Kelvin Brown, 11, a sixth-grader from Becker Elementary School in North College Hill, said the Rev. Dr. King's speech really moves him. "Everything that he said has come to pass. Everyone is in harmony now. It is a speech of love," Kelvin said.
Kelvin thinks relations between people will get even better. "Everybody should hear everybody's story," Kelvin said. "People should talk more because if you don't talk then you don't know anything."
I have a dream today.
Crystal Caudill, an NKU sophomore from Petersburg, Ky., said a recent segment of 20 - 20 inspired her to do more to help the world's poor. The show focused on Russian children in orphanages.
"I'd like to see more caring about poverty around the world," Ms. Caudill said. "We all need to take care of people and make sure that everyone has what they need to live."
College of Mount St. Joseph student Dormella Barron, 18, from Avondale, thinks the world is now a better place, but
with plenty of room for improvement.
"People look at who I am instead of as an African-American female. (The speech) has had a positive impact on the world and society," said Ms. Barron, a business administration major. "His speech means to me that one day as a nation we can come together. Since (the College of Mount St. Joseph) is a predominantly white school and having all different types of cultures here, we are fulfilling his dream. Whites and blacks can come together."
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
Jordan Davis, 11, a sixth-grader at Columbia Elementary, said she dreams of "peace on earth and everything to be equal and all people have the same rights as each other and nobody would be thought of any differently than anybody else, based on color of skin, based on beliefs and disbeliefs."
Jordan thinks society has improved since the Rev. Dr. King gave his famous speech.
"It's definitely better than when he was living, but I have an African-American friend. I think of her just as I think of all my friends," Jordan said. "I think it's definitely gotten better, but it still could possibly improve."
Martin Luther King's dream has yet to be fully realized, Chad Engelland says.
But the 22-year-old Xavier University senior from Avondale dreams of a day when society will pay as much attention to such people as the homeless, the poor and single mothers as it does to the needs and wishes of the rich and privileged.
Mr. Engelland said his Roman Catholic faith and "middle-class America background" shaped his dreams and "made me realize how blessed I am.
"We need to value their lives as much as we value our own, and realize they can make important contributions to how we understand ourselves as a people and as a nation."
Dana DiFilippo, Bernie Mixon and Miriam Smith contributed to this report.
