Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous activist in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s who stood up against racism, poverty, and injustice. He believed that people and their happiness was the major goal of community. He especially believed that we must work together to create the kind of world we want and we must stand up for one another. A community is strengthened when we stand in solidarity: if one person in a community is treated poorly, we all must join hands and stand up for that person.

Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK for short) gave a famous speech called “I Have a Dream” and in it he made his dream known. His dream was that children of different races and backgrounds—no matter if Black or white or rich or poor--would hold hands with one another in support and solidarity.

Below is an excerpt from MLK’s speech “I Have a Dream”:

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 down 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.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. 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.

Collective liberation: One person’s struggle to be heard and valued is connected with the struggles of every other person within that community.

Collective dreams: Just as our struggles are intimately connected, so are our dreams. MLK had a dream for us all to work together; for us all to stand up for one another; for us to fight for everyone’s liberation.

With a partner discuss the following.

• What is a dream you have for your community?
• Why do you want to share this dream with others?

Grab a pen and paper! We’re going to create a poem about our collective dream—our dream for our community. The beginnings of the poem are below—we’ll just fill in the blanks!

Feel free to repeat the fill in the blank form for as many dreams as you have.

Collective Dream # 1:

My dream for my community is: ____________________________________.
We can achieve this dream together.
My community will achieve this dream by ___________________________________________________________________________________________________.
We will support one another by____________________________________________________.
I want to share my dream with others because__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Collective Dream # 2:

My dream for my community is: ____________________________________.
We can achieve this dream together.
My community will achieve this dream by ___________________________________________________________________________________________________.
We will support one another by____________________________________________________.
I want to share my dream with others because__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

If you feel empowered, share these dreams with your partner or someone you trust. Maybe even share them your community!