With the pending swearing-in of an African American President upon us, we can not forget one of the most important men in our history Dr. Martin Luther King.

One of the thoughts that cross my mind with Obama being elected into office is will this holiday lose some significance? I know it sounds ludicrous, but I feel its a fair question – will people think that because a Black man is President that the dream has been fulfilled?

I was watching CNN’s MLK coverage a while ago and I saw a poll in which 69 percent of African Americans “polled” feel that King’s dream has been fulfilled.

I attribute that to the moment upon us; let a few months pass and the Obama mania subdue and I can see those numbers easily dropping. Have we made progress? Absolutely when you consider that four decades ago people were being killed because of their skin color. But, can we really say the dream has been fulfilled? Does a presidency surpass all the progress that needs to be done on the ground to really fulfill that vision?

There is still work to be done and we should all be thankful that a president has come along that reflects the call to action of MLK. We haven’t had a president do that since his death and the only one with the potential of that, (RFK), was killed right after King because the American public feared him.

But we can’t say the dream has been fulfilled when their are still nights called urban and pop in Atlanta and when you go to either one color dominates completely over the other. When there are still proms in the Southern states that are segregated. When there are still people of color being incarcerated for longer periods than their white counterparts for the same crime. That is just the tip of the iceberg – there is so much more that needs to be corrected and it “may” never be fixed. But notice I used the word “may.” That is exactly why this holiday shouldn’t serve as the only day we remember Dr. King. But we should carry the memory of him everyday in our lives. Whether its giving a homeless person some change, volunteering at a soup kitchen, donating clothing, or even marching for what we feel is right.

Today is a holiday relagated to only one race and I’m not talking about the race Martin Luther King was standing up for in the Black race, but the human race, because he wanted all of us whether black, white, or asian to come together and put aside our differences and work towards healing our divisions and building America into the great nation it should be. I see the progress…I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I hope I live long enough to where I can say the dream is achieved. But, I must say, I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve seen so far…