81 years ago last week, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born into a generation where, because of the color of his skin, his life was not his to decide. Because of the color of his skin, he was not afforded the same opportunities as my own grandfather, who was born just 2 years before him, but with white skin.

But he didn’t accept this fate, these limitations, he stood up and fought. He pointed out injustice, he opened the eyes of people across the nation to the wrongs he faced. He dreamed of something different. Of something more and something better.

Forty-two years ago, King lost his life in the midst of fighting for it.

Even after his death, he remained the voice of a generation, the voice of a movement, the voice of courage, of love, of persistence. He made a difference that changed the face of this country.

“Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.”

“There is little hope for us until we become toughminded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths, and downright ignorance.”

“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 don’t know what Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he was alive today today. I don’t know what he would say if he sat and listened to people continue to spread hatred to those who are different. I wonder how he would feel about gay marriage, about Haiti, about the treatment of those from the middle east, about the things said about those who practice Islam.

I think as a man of God, as someone who truly believed in equality, he would be appalled. He would be appalled that we are depriving citizens of rights because of their sexual orientation or religious preference, appalled that we hate others because they are different, appalled that we make assumptions about people because of the way they look. I think he would be appalled by the ignorance that clouds the minds of so many, almost 50 years after he tried to break free from those very thoughts and ideas.

So why do so many people admire this man, this civil rights leader, but ignore what he said and refuse to see how his words remain applicable 40 years later? Why do we quote his I Have a Dream speech without realizing that for many, that dream remains unfilled because they are different? Why do we take a day off work without spending any time realizing how little we’ve done to change the ignorance and hatred that Dr. King fought against so many years ago?

Where is the voice of our generation? Who will stand up and shout from church steps, or from public rallies and make-shift podiums about the injustices that continue to plague our society? In 40 years, who will our children and our children’s children take a day off of work to celebrate? Will it be someone who condemns others who are different, or one who teaches us to love each other for those very differences?

We have an opportunity to shape the future, to spread love instead of hatred, in the very same way that Dr. King did. Things are changing. Gay marriage will become legal. Health care reform will happen. We can be the voice of our generation and we can enact change. But only if we break free from the same shackles of prejudice that Dr. King dreamed of demolishing. Only if we choose love instead of hatred, even when it isn’t the easiest choice.

On this day, I continue to wonder what would happen if only we all had a dream about a day when all men will truly be created and treated equally. Of a day when all children will actually be judged on the content of their character, and nothing more.

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