What is life? A thing that seems, A mirage that falsely gleams, Phantom joy, delusive rest, Since is life a dream at best, And even dreams themselves are dreams.
Calderon de la Barca
Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr., our best known black leader and an inspirational speaker who in his memorable words of “I have a dream”, enunciated the hopes, aspirations and wishes for freedom of every person regardless of race. Forty seven years after his death, among all the celebratory speeches, the adulations and criticism of his views, very little is said about where we are as far of fulfilling his “dream”. There is no question that institutional racism has been greatly diminished, as exemplified by our having twice elected a president half black, the many blacks in the government of both parties that represent our country here and abroad, and the ones that more frequently than not, achieve prominence in the civil world of arts, science and industry. The question remains of why if opportunity and institutional equality is improving, the lives of the majority of African Americans are not. The family values, religious beliefs, and feelings of personal worth, that were the strength that King Jr. counted on to fulfill his dream have been eroded. The reason, though somewhat obvious, is one not frequently discussed. Martin Luther King’s desires have been betrayed, not by whites, not by the legal system, not by one political party, but by blacks themselves that have abused the words of a few and the yearnings of many to exploit and maintain the past inequalities for the sole purpose of their personal ambitions and enrichment.
I also had a dream. Like many of our compatriots, I fantasized of a day when our beautiful country Cuba, would finally achieve the political maturity, and appropriate governance to come together with the economic and social improvements that were part of our way of life. We had a disruption of the electoral process when Batista, for whatever reason, took over power. We shunned the obvious peaceful solutions offered to return to a democratic stability, and we were seduced by a mostly unknown person that started a process of destruction. Many fought for our ideals, some giving their lives and/or freedom, while others by destiny and or cowardice remained untouched losing only their material belongings. And what happened to our dreams? We, like MLK’s dreamers are being deceived by our own kind. Many of our leaders are responding to their personal ambitions forgoing the meaning of liberty. Our martyrs, our sacrifices, our hopes to return to the existence that we once enjoyed, have been betrayed by the so called leaders that will pact with the Castro’s and or their successors promising a life of entitlements in exchange for continuing lack of freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. did not live to see how his words were never acted on, and my generation will suffer the same fate. And as King Segismund said in de la Barca’s dramatic piece “dreams are just dreams”, and as reality faces us, not the Castro’s, not the traitors, not the US government, no one as long as I hold my last breath will stop me from my ideals, dream or not.
Fernando J. Milanes, MD
