The Will to Be Strong

"And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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.'

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.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little 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.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!"

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

28 August, 1963

Katie gripped her mother's hand tightly, nervously glancing at all the people around her. People were shouting, crying, smiling, holding children up, and laughing. People together, black, white, everybody. As far as she could see, there were people everywhere.

In her six years Katie had never been around so many different people.

They stopped walking and Katie's father lifted her up and set her on his shoulders. Suddenly, she could see the big white building with the podium, and the man standing up there.

"Thats Mr. King," Katie's mother said fondly. "He's a very great man."

After waiting for a few minutes Katie started watching the people around her. A few caught her eyes; a boy playing with a toy plane, a large woman wearing a ridiculous hat talking to another woman. One man caught her eye though. It was a white man, about her father's height and he had glasses. He was going through the crowd, shaking hands with everybody excitedly. Katie watched him as he got progressively closer to her family.

Eventually he did, and shook hands with all three of them, reaching up to gently shake Katie's.

"Thanks for coming! This will be a day to remember." He said cheerfully. He moved on to other people, laughing with the children and gesturing up to the podium, explaining something occasionally.

"What a strange man," Katie's father said. "I wonder who he is."

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

25 Years Later

Katie gripped the hand of her daughter and led her through the crowd of people. They were headed towards the Lincoln Memorial and all of its glory, the impressive building still as large as she remembered it.

The pair stopped at the bottom of the steps and Katie kneeled down next to her young daughter. Hazel eyes looked at her, confused.

"Why are we here, mama?"

Katie smiled warmly. "Exactly 25 years ago I was here. And there were a lot of other people here too."

"Was it a circus?"

Katie laughed. "No, it was much more exciting than that. This is the same place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his speech. And I was in the crowd. I saw him and listened to him. Do you know why it was important?"

The little girl shook her head.

"Because," Katie waved her hand towards the whole area. "This speech lead the way to let you go to school with all the other kids, and so people didn't separate us from others. We can be equals."

"As you deserved to be." Katie turned around to see a man sitting on the steps, looking out on the whole place. "It was horrible, the segregation. It should have never happened."

A memory tugged at Katie. From this place…

Suddenly, Katie's daughter trotted up to the man and poked his arm. "Who are you? You're weird."

The man laughed. "My name's Alfred. I guess I am pretty weird."

"I'm Valerie." Alfred shook her hand and turned back to Katie. Suddenly, the memory hit Katie. The man that shook her and her family's hands right before the speech. He looked exactly the same.

"You...look just like a man I met here at the speech."

Alfred smiled widely and stood up. "I remember that day. I come here every year." He turned and looked up at Lincoln. "I still feel guilty, for not pushing harder for all of...that...to end. I had been waiting for that day for years."

"Um, you age really well, I guess." The memory was fuzzy at best, but the man in front of her didn't look very old.

"You don't even know the half of it." He checked his watch. "Oh great, I'm missing a meeting." He gave Katie and Valerie a disappointed look. "They always schedule one on this day. I think they don't want me to be seen too much." He shrugged and waved. "I'll see you later!" And Alfred jogged away, leaving Katie and Valerie on the steps.

"America." Valerie said cheerfully.

"What's that, Valerie?" Katie asked. Valerie just giggled and started running up the steps. "Wait up! Don't run too fast, you'll get hurt!"

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

A/N: Oh goodness, I'm going to cry.

I've always felt so strongly about the Civil Rights Movement. Though I'm a white girl who's never had to experience racism, I still see the history of it and segregation and slavery and it horrifies me.

One of my favorite America headcanons is that during the Civil War the Alfred we see now was the North, and a second personality came out to be the South. Along with that, I can see the personifications not fighting over the land issues, but over slavery itself. Thus, since the North 'won,' the Alfred 'today' is more of the North. Thus thus, dislikes slavery/segregation. And so though the whole Civil Rights he was disgusted by the segregation.

Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech August 28th, 1963. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended all state and local laws requiring segregation.

If you have never heard the speech, please find a recording of it. He is an excellent orator, and the speech was written beautifully.

Glaring historical errors? Tell me. I don't want to offend anybody.

If you haven't, check out my other stories Never Forget, American History, Learn From Your Mistakes, and For They Are Many. They all involve America and his citizens from different points in time.

Never forget

American history.

Learn from your mistakes,

For they are many.

The will to be strong

Next: Only Makes You Weak