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They Had a Dream

They Had a Dream(© 2026)Lyrics
MLK, Jr. Speech: 
"Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later the Negro still is not free." 

1. Martin stood on the mountain there in front of the fountain
With his people around him and the energy pounding 
In that moment we crowned him
 
But how can we call him hero when we're here doing zero
I'm not confident we know what it takes to be free yo
So don't let it be... Oh 
  
Just a meaningless token of a legacy broken 
By some white people hopin' that they're really just votin'
For a magical Negro   

Malcolm X Speech:
"We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary." 

2. Malcolm felt the injustice, you could tell that it touched him
Every time he discussed it - but the federal government
Was not to be trusted    

He took a risk for his people in the face of an evil
That was so medieval when it could have been peaceful
But was clearly corrupted

The media railed that he was ungrateful
They claimed that his message was violent and hateful
The label incited a racial portrayal
That led to an end which was brutally fatal

3. So where do we take it from here?
For Malcolm and Martin it's clear
America's health as a nation depends on a radical implementation 
Of more than a simplistic desegregation
We need laws for the eradication of poverty, greed and financial starvation
Authentic reform and a true integration
In both low and high education   
That offer the whole population substantial careers

...Then everyone needs a vacation

The Back Story

Both MLK, Jr. and Malcolm X began their journeys in very ideologically different places. But both gradually verged toward each other in their thinking as the end of their lives approached. Dr. King was, at one time, considered to be the most hated man in America. I imagine Malcolm X shared that status at some point. Dr. King’s views, in particular, have been so whitewashed over the years as to make his teachings almost unrecognizable. Malcolm may have foreseen this eventuality when he chose not to speak at the March on Washington at the National Mall in 1963.

The Whiteness Factor

For many Whites, the short phrase about being known “by the content of one’s character rather than by the color of one’s skin” is all we can recite from Dr. King’s many speeches, sermons and books. We can quote even less from Malcolm X.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with a white person who considered themselves to be a racist. So…why is racism still such a powerful force in our country? What would the United States look like without racism? What would it take to get us to that point? Do you know any authors, film makers, artists, musicians, politicians, pastors, professionals, laborers, children who have a clear vision of what our country would look like devoid of racism and caste (see Isabel Wilkerson)? How can we bring something into being if we do not spend time imagining it?

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