 John H. Clark III with an idea I have a dream today. Do you? In a small Michigan city, about 40 years ago, I stood on stage at Ricker Junior High School and recited Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. After weeks and weeks of researching, reviewing, rehearsing, and practicing the speech, I was finally onstage in front of the entire student body, selfless teachers, doting parents, and district administrators. My rendition of the speech came at the conclusion of an afternoon drama-club performance dedicated to many of the major events of the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the great historical achievements of African-Americans. Several of my classmates took turns representing various well-known activists such as Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Jesse Owens, Ruby Ridges, Hank Aaron, Thurgood Marshall, George Washington Carver, and Jesse Jackson, among others. In reality, I did not actually recite the speech. Despite my best efforts at learning, memorizing, and practicing the speech, as I stood on stage during the final moments of that Black History program, my mind went totally blank after delivering the first eight lines. But then, something truly incredible happened. The words flowed from my lips as if I were a magic marionette... my voice, my body, and my very soul seemed to be manipulated by the strong, magnificent strings of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As I stood onstage in front of hundreds of students and teachers, I felt powerlessly authoritative, helplessly confident, and amazingly lucid as I delivered Dr. King’s historical crescendo of words. In a veritable trance, I was mesmerized, paralyzed, and paradoxically invigorated by the words as they flowed from somewhere within my temples, my soul, and the physical synergy of everything happening at that moment. There was no pre-thought… no recall-then-repeat… no actual recollection of words. There was only the speech. Each word flooded the stage as if it were my own. And today, in complete homage to those words, that man, and that mighty time in history… once again… I give you his valid, vivid, and visionary words: “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 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 one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 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. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, ‘My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’ And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia... Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring... And when this happens.. ...and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual... ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lincoln Memorial Washington D.C. August 28, 1963 ~ 57 years ago from the date of this post ~ U.S. Representative John Lewis, another great icon of the civil rights movement who passed away earlier this month, also spoke that day as the president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Of MLK, Representative Lewis said, “Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.” With such a grand dream, many parts of which have come true at some point or another since the death of Dr. King, I have but one question to ask you… What’s YOUR dream? Accept. Adapt. Achieve. ®  John H. Clark III is an optimistic realist. Principal consultant at The PIE Group, and Executive Director of TeenBuilding USA, [a non-profit 501c(3)], John believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need. And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me). Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}. An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work! An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life, a teen-focused guide, Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens, and the Christian-based book, God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life. He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and authorize people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets. An engaged community advocate and authentic leader, his trademarked phrase is a winner:  |
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