Re-union with the Homeland: An African-American Dream Deferred

The Remnant of an African Dream (II)

By Katherine Dabo

The False Dream
One hundred years after Lincoln freed the slaves of African descendants, Rev.  Martin Luther King Jr. had a new dream for the African.  This dream was an ideal of hope that the African man would have his equal share or part of the American dream and live in peace and harmony beside his new brother as one people. I was four years old when King marched on Washington. This became an historic and prophetic moment in the life of the Negro.  He was fighting for the rights to be African -American. These new Africans wanted to become part Americans and be entitled to the same citizenship rights as their new brothers while they live in under the sun. However, king did not foresee that this dreamed up agreement would bind us to a new dream that would make us lesser gods called the African –American.

I speak of this march not to denounce it but shed light on a dark era in the life of the African man and show how we as a people are still living this false dream in America.  The day king led the marched on Washington The “I have a dream” speech was said to have come down from the mountain, but forty-two years later it was no more than a mole hill that resulted in the newly created African- American being lost in the wilderness two years longer than the Israelites .

 There were two reasons King said he marched on Washington and they both were intertwined with the American dream. The march on Washington ended up at the feet of Abraham Lincoln, which was very symbolic, because Lincoln did not stutter when he said his belief about the black man, however his belief did not hinder him from making a conscious truth that the black man should be free.  The problem was the Negro no longer African, did not make a conscious decision as a people and say Lincoln freed us by signing into law the Emancipation Proclamation; now we can go home, instead King took a 100 year old bill to Washington that was paid in full and signed by the President Abraham Lincoln, King laid this bill of freedom at Lincoln’s feet..

 In his bill King said that the “negro was still not free, that the negro was crippled by the manacles of segregation, and the chains of discrimination, and that the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. His bill also included that the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. In 1868 Lincoln freed the African from slavery, but this however did not make him an American citizen. The African was free to go wherever he pleased under the sun, but while the black man lived among the white race in America the white race is declared Supreme Being; this is the ugly reality of the African lot in America.

What was more alarming to me was that he also had a check. A check king felt would give the Negro man upon demand the riches of the European, freedom and the security of justice.

In his address he stated that “in a sense we’ve come to cash a check” A check that 1) was not written to the African man. And 2) these two great supreme laws where written in 1776 and 1787, when the African man was not seen as a man but a very expensive piece of property and when the creators created them they created him inhuman . That is why the check could not be cashed at the nation’s capitol.  The African American still hold this check today because it is drawn under a bank called hope and none of the banks are located in America.

 The more confusing matter was that he was marching for a type of freedom that was deemed perfect for the “We the People that created it.” (In other words?).  We the people is the white race as Lincoln called them, and they have deemed themselves superior over the black race, this is why the constitution has not changed concerning the supreme order of man. But the savor of it all is that we were already a “we the people” when we where brought and bought in America.

The second reason King marched on Washington was to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. The now was that the Negro man is granted his citizenship rights. The first problem is that the Negro was not a citizen. Due to the fact that his parents where of African descendant. Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation decree did not grant his citizenship after slavery, although the black man has since been endowed by his creators with some equalities and with certain inalienable rights but he is still the property of the white race as long as he lives in America so there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America for the African.

King’s march on Washington should have been a sit down in congress with a bill that demanded that we the people who were not created equal in America and have not been endowed by their creators or given the inalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness in this land demand these rights by any means necessary which in fact is the law of self-preservation. Today the African American still have that urgency of now and still do not have his citizen rights as a part- American.

King’s prophetic number forty-two was mentioned about 4 or 5 times during his speech. I will begin by putting together a chronological order of his dream. This will explain the order of events that took place according to the dream.

As I began to decode King’s dream, I realized that King had 6 dreams that he proclaimed to be deeply rooted in the American dream. This means that king had come to the agreement that the white race was superior and the black race would accept being a slave but not called a slave.

The first dream tells of a people of kings and queens –forty -two years later we have an African-American president King Barrack and our first lady, Queen Michelle. If we where in our native land, this would be the highest seat in the land.

The second dream and the third dream were one he saw the plague that was sent to destroy them.  Lack. Lack of knowledge of themselves, lack of wisdom to know the difference and lack of understanding to change– forty-two years we now as a people have moved so far away from our ancestor’s content and character that the essence of our being and identity is lost. Not only do the Europeans in America view us as degenerates but around the world other countries question our worth in America.

The fourth dream was worse because it continues through generation to generation – forty-two years later our children are plaque with not only racial inequalities but they  are now tormenting themselves for the lack of endowment through songs and dance and calling it unity. Then the false prophets eat the rest of what’s left of our soul content for heaven sake and call it in the name of one love, (the father)one heart (the son)and one mind (the holy spirit).

The fifth dream and the sixth dream share a common thought. He saw the root of what his deed had done and the end result of the people content and character. He saw the state of being of their hearts and minds and it cast a dark shadow over him. That is why he did not see himself going to the Promised Land because the content of his heart was of not of the original dream of our ancestors.  Forty-two years later the Africa-Americans have made strides in economics, politics, education and religion with respect, but theses things are basic.  The ideal that success has such a low grade for achievement most of our elite African-Americans died believing they had achieved the American dream and the ones that are living successfully are in wild imagination that their riches are buying them the dream, but in reality they are all part of the remains of a dream. The Rich and the poor, the beggar and thief, doctor and  lawyer, the slave and the free we are all part of one dream and the remnants thereof.

We were given forty-two years to live out the prophecy of  king dream and now today in the year of 2010 it is forty-two years later and  the dream has not came true, forty-two years later we still can not cash this check on hope, forty-two years later we are still a broken people, forty-two years later we are still drinking from the cup of hatred and bitterness, forty-two years later our children are still being judged by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character, forty-two years later we are still the victim of racial injustice, forty-two years later the African-American dream is bankrupted and  we the people have erred and not profited, we  have followed a false prophet and his dream. Our ancestor’s spirits have been in this strange land for 542 years it is time for them to return home and rest under the sun.

The Dream Returns
Our ancestors were a pious people. Their land was evidence that they were connected to an infinite unit and order.  When they were brought to this country they had one ideal and one mind of going home to the promise land. Through all their hundreds of years; filled with torments, suffering and pain our ancestor’s shared and kept one mind of the unity of Africa. This dream was passed down through generations and generations in hope that one day the dream would become whole again and dwell in the hearts and minds of the people.  this is the day that the land will beat in our hearts and the people will sing to us in our souls until we return home the  spirits of our ancestors. We can not deny them their day of joy under their sun.

It was that one thought, one mind that held them together as a force.  It is that force today that is speaking to us in the midst of our hearts. It is that force that will connect our minds to becoming one again, it is the force that will pull us to the land of our ancestors and we the people will be free at last. Join me in Africa the promise land for the black man. "Look for me in the whirlwind," Marcus Garvey said. Email the writer

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Comments

[Lisa Delapp]

After reading this article,I am moved by the exceptional spirit by Katherine Dabo. Ms.Dabo is a very talented writer and I enjoyed reading it. Keep up with your inspirational writing.

[JUANITA ELLERBEE]

THERE WAS A LOT OF THOUGHT PUT INTO THIS ARTICLE.IT HAS REALLY MADE ME STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF OUR ANCESTORS. YOUR WORDS HAVE ENCOURAGED ME TO RETHINK MY WORTH . GREAT ARTICLE LOOKING FORWARD TO FUTURE ARTICLES. INSPIRED!

[Coss Lumberjack]

When I read this article, I find its content very deep. I encourage the author to continue inspiring all people of african descendants so that one day they will very much understand the connection that exist between the roots and the ancestors we have in common.