Every year in January the students at LSMSA gather in the Treen Auditorium to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He had a dream.  LSMSA students try to live out his dream everyday.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:  'We hold these truths to be self-evident:  that all men are created equal.'

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 

...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech

You can view a video of the actual speech.

Sanjay Saraf, SGO President, began the 2008 MLK Assembly with these words:

Today we are celebrating the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Throughout the ceremony you will observe some small segment of what Dr. King did during his lifetime; you will understand the famous marches he led, or hear of famous speeches he gave.  But I think Dr. King has been remembered by many of us as just a face, and just a quote. “I have a dream.”

We seem to forget that Dr. King wanted to forgive his abusers.  We seem to forget that Dr. King appealed to Northerners and Southerners, the sons of slaves and slave-masters alike.  We seem to forget in some of his marches, a fourth of the protesters did not have dark skin. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. was more than just ‘I have a dream’.  He knew that he was risking his life for the rights of his brothers and sisters, both white and black, and he knew that he probably would not survive to see the fruits of his labors. 

We all share in those fruits to this day.  The optimists say that we have progressed as a nation, but I think we fail to see that we have not progressed enough.  King’s dream is still not fulfilled, and our society, though better, is still not equal. 

Many people in this country, in this state, perhaps even, in this auditorium, still hold racist views.  We are in the 21st century, and yet, we still have 19th century politics.  We still have episodes like that which happened in Jena, Louisiana.  We realize that it took, as one presidential candidate said, “a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion.”

Discrimination is not limited to those events that happen in the news.  I am sure many of you see its results all the time, everywhere you go.  I ask that you lead against those around you who may hold a racist perspective.  Whenever you hear them voice their opinions, regardless of what your skin color is, tell them to remember what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has done for this country, and what he has done for you. 

Then, and only then, can America stand, with liberty and justice, for all. 
<