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Martin Luther King came along at the right time for the nation. I came along at the right time and place for his message. I was only three during his Birmingham bus boycott and the March on Washington.

I was still young when he told the world he had a dream. He said that for America to live up to the ideals of its origins, people would have to be judged solely on "the content of their character, not by the color of their skin."

My family moved out of Memphis just days before he was assassinated on that balcony at the Lorraine Motel. I was only eight when old hatred sought to kill the future with a bullet.

The incredible words of his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial still resonate today. But they shook the world when he first spoke them. Though my parents grew up in the Jim Crow-Cotton world of the South, they had escaped into the military. They gave us a life of travel and better education.

Not entirely cut off from the plight of Blacks in our nation, we were still blessed to be removed from the worst of the discrimination and segregation. My parents bought a set of encyclopedia and emphasized education and learning.

Their philosophy was to place no limits on our performance, accept no ob stables to progress and to remember from where we have sprung. To this end, they purchased an album of the "I have a dream" speech and played it often for us.

We were raised to believe every word of his speech. We had internalized his vision and sought to build the world he called for.

Sadly, though much progress has been made over the years, too many people failed to understand the true meaning of the dream; which is True Equality. A small but active percentage of the American population still clings to old philosophies of racial superiority.

The remnants are on display during this current election cycle, forty years after Martin Luther King died for his vision. Instead of judging each candidate solely on their character, we're assailed by broad descriptions of a Black man, a Liberal woman and a White veteran. Surely there is more difference than simple color and gender?

In the end, I could be despondent over our lack of progress as a society. But I chose to believe there is hope, that future generations can learn, or unlearn as needed, the lessons of history.

I hear his voice every time I see an interracial couple walking proudly in public without fear. Ignorance still abounds, but the dream still lives.

Learn more about this author, Morgan Johnson.
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