As I set here reflecting on all the time that has passed since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I am challenged to look inside and ask, what does all this mean to me? What does it mean that I can vote? What does it mean that I can live where I want to (to a certain degree), what does it mean to be “free?” In addition, what does it mean to blog and say what I need and want to? Those are just some thoughts of mine that are running through my head.

What does this day mean for me? Well, quite frankly, a lot. It means I, as a Black man racially, African American/ Mexican American ethnically, can stand on my own two feet, get a PhD, write books, travel the world, and have an interethnic marriage along with a multiethnic daughter. It means I can stand up for the marginalized and speak for the poor in the countenance of injustice. It means I can walk down the street holding my wife’s hand without the real fear of lynching’s and or severe public ridicule. It also means I can get an education and help my little girl get one too. It means I can bury my loved ones in a proper manner. It means I can go to court if my “civil rights” are violated. It means I am standing on the shoulders of all those who died before me and never made the headlines or nightly news; or ever had a Holiday named after them. It means I give homage and respect to the Civil Rights Generation and for what they did for my family and the subsequent generations, which follow. It means I pay respect to the struggle and fight that many people did to help me and others like me get to where we’re at today as a people of color. It also means I thank God for allowing some people to make the ultimate sacrifice of death for a people, a cause, and a purpose.

What this day means for me is to reflect on the struggle started long before I came down that womb and into this place we call Earth; the struggle for equality among all people and the reconciliation of those peoples to God—Christ started that, and we’ve been trying to get this thing right ever since. Dr. King represented that long line of people who have fought for justice and equality and against injustice and inequality for thousands of years.

But what do we do with all that? Do we just go and wear some “African colors” to feel better? Do we eat “Sushi” and call ourselves culturally literate? Alternatively, do we march in a rally and sign some petitions? Where do we get involved?

In every class that I teach on race relations, ethnicity, and or intercultural communication, I make the argument that racism is worse today than it was 50 years ago. Some students look at me in amazement while others think I am just a nut for saying such an outrageous statement. Then there are those few that look at me and nod their head as if to say, “Yeah, I feel you on that one.” Now, what does that all mean? Didn’t the efforts of Dr. King do something? Didn’t Dr. King fight against the crap called racism and its ugly twin’s sexism and classism? Yeah, I think he did. However, we have allowed time and the comfort of policies to cloud our way in actually dampening those major issues. We have also allowed ourselves to argue and debate over surface issues, rather than getting to the important aspect of the issue like Dr. King did so often. Moreover, we have allowed the console of “objects” and “things” to replace the hard struggle and mission of educating the next person regarding racism, sexism, and classism while allowing ourselves to grow on and in those topics.

So while I think about all the good that has been done since Dr. King’s time and generation, I also think about the hard struggles ahead: affordable healthcare for EVERYONE, education on the issues of racism at upper levels in leadership, beginning to see people more important than things and money, reconciliation between different ethnic groups (African American, Mexicans, Euro Americans, Asians, Native American Indians), and stronger connections to Christ without the dilution of religion….let’s see what happens.