OUR DREAM, OUR FIGHT

A look into the past, our present and what the future holds for us. Will the hopes we bear come through? Where and when will the fight be over?

by Lofty-John Anyanwu

“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”

- Coretta Scott King

Each and every generation of black people have had their struggles and dreams - struggles for a safer today and dreams for a better tomorrow. From the slave who worked in the cotton plantations in Virginia to the everyday Black American who walks the streets of New York, one thought is shared: the thought of never being free. These thoughts have been in our pasts, are in our present and could be our future.

A Struggle for Freedom

Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery?

-Frederick Douglass: 'The Mournful Wail of Millions'

Freedom and a longing for respect and worth is inherently human. These human natures have been the reasons for the fight for freedom and rights. The very first fights were those of freedom from slavery. The first black Americans were slaves and so sought for freedom by rebelling. Among the many rebellions, two noteworthy ones would be the Stono Rebellion and Gabriel's conspiracy.

On a Sunday, the ninth of September, 1739 near the Stono River in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, United States, a band of slaves raided a firearms store. Gathering arms, they planned to escape. The group had hoped to reach St. Augustine, Florida (the Spanish there gave freedom and land to fugitive slaves) but were caught up to by dusk with half of them already dead. Most escaped but were eventually captured and sold or executed. Sixty people died that day. The slaves had sought to escape in search of freedom and a possibly better life. This is one of the many rebellions that were staged by the slaves.

The largest planned rebellion in the history of the States would be Gabriel's conspiracy despite its failure. It was planned and spearheaded by a blacksmith, Gabriel. Having been tried and given inhumane punishment for a crime, he considered it the tipping point and decided open rebellion. The rebellion was to spread to four towns of Virginia. It was abortive as some slaves cracked and told their slave masters. 86 slaves were arrested and 26 executed. These early rebellions were the starting sparks for the fight for freedom. Many black people took up the fight against slavery. They began the united struggle against slavery: the Abolitionist Movement. This saw many speeches and government legislations including the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863, which declared the freedom of slaves within the bounds of the Confederacy. People once slaves could proudly live in freedom.

A Struggle for Social Justice

‘But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.’

-Martin Luther King Jr.:‘I Have a Dream’

The people were now free from the taunt of slavery but that did not save them from the lash of social injustice, prejudice and discrimination they were about to face. Many white people were horrified seeing the people they once enslaved more-or-less equals with them; they set out on a new path. In the South, Jim Crow laws were adopted. These laws did not allow black people to share public facilities with Whites. Interracial marriage became illegal and black voting rights became limited. Although the North had no such laws, Blacks still faced a lot of prejudice and discrimination especially when buying home, seeking a job or an education. These sparked the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. One of the very known pioneers of this movement is Rosa Parks known as the “mother of modern day civil rights movement”. Her story is often well known. Segregation laws at her time gave certain seats to white people and others to blacks. A white man could not find a seat on the bus so the bus driver told her and three other blacks to give up their seats. Parks refused and was arrested. That act caused the 381 day long boycott of the Montgomery bus system.

After this many other people became drawn to the movement spurring into action a two decade long movement. Many other notable activists came up such as Malcolm X, and the famous Martin Luther King Jr. known for his adoption of peaceful protests and marches. The actions of these people saw the passing into law of many legislations such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1964. Another major spotlight of the event was the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech by Martin Luther King Jr.. In his speech, he had made it known the vision he had for a future America. The future we live in today or maybe not?

A Final Struggle

This may not be our final stance but we hope it will be. The fight against all forms of racism may never end. It is like a cancer that would never be healed. The fights of the 19th century and those of the 1950s and 60s were not enough. Black people suffered from a new type of stigma, one in the system and from the very people meant to protect them: police brutality. Many black people were shot in the name of self defence even when found unarmed and many died. These deaths spurred into action a new movement the #BlackLivesMatter Movement forming a local power and stance against racially instigated violence and police brutality. The summer of 2020 saw the movement grow to a worldwide one with many protests and marches in a call for justice for the murder of George Floyd and an end put to the police brutality. Many people united as one in this cause to bring an end to white supremacy and violence against blacks. The protests helped highlight the many flaws in the workings of our systems and the injustice built in it.

Like every movement has witnessed, politicians and office holders have made promises for reform and are working on legislation for reform. But would these have an impact? Passing numerous legislations is obviously not the panacea to our struggle. Diagnosing the problem was one thing, getting the solution is another. These may tell us a little of what the future holds for us. Maybe the fight and struggle would never end? We may never actually live in the world King or any of us dream of. We just have to keep the struggle on. Our time is one of peril but also full of hope. If not now maybe never. But we cannot give up the fight. Till the end we must fight for it is our dream.