Letter to the editor: Before King had a dream, he had a plan

When I listen to the entire “I Have a Dream” speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I realized that before he had a dream, he had a plan.

Early on in his speech, he reveals the iconic 1963 March on Washington is only the beginning: “Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.”

Before his words could be misconstrued, he made it clear that his plan called for nonviolent methods. Dr. King stated there were many white citizens who walked alongside in the fight for civil rights. He concluded that they understood that our destinies are linked. He called for Blacks and whites to walk this path together.

Author Habeeb Akande once said, “If a man wants his dreams to come true, he must wake up.”

I believe the leadership of Dr. King lends support to the fact that dreams don’t come to fruition without putting in the work. After all, he took an active part in events that subjected him to brutal beatings, he suffered the effects of being imprisoned in the Birmingham jail, and finally, he was willing to take part in one of the biggest challenges of all: persevering in the face of difficulty.

I thought he pulled the whole plan together with this quote: “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

Dwight Parrish, Perry Township

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Letter to the editor: Before King had a dream, he had a plan