1997 brought advances and call to action for Americans

I remember the burn I felt in my heart at the Million Woman March. It was a proud moment in the lives of African Americans. A grass roots organization made the march possible, showing the power of dedicated black women. There was a fire emblazoned in my heart, and tears running down my cheeks. There were faces everywhere filled with hope of what this march would accomplish. It was a far cry from the ignorant welfare queen the world would have us believe is the black woman.

A critic of the proposed name, Mark Van Meter said, "In some parts of the country, King, is not looked upon as somebody famous." Why? Because he is black? Dr. King was a young man, sucked into the churning unrest of the Civil Rights Era. He was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, who challenged this country with his passionate call for equality for all people, not just blacks. So why is he not the all-American hero. He had flaws. Even a King has flaws. But is that what stops this country from looking up to him? I doubt it.

Thomas Jefferson was a great founder and writer of the Declaration of Independence. He called for equality by day, his slaves by night. He is still considered a great man. Jefferson Davis, George Washington and Robert E. Lee were all slave holders. Still, there is at least one school in this country named after each of them. Are there white parents running around, worried that their child's high school will be labeled racist? No, because white heroes are celebrated. They are not only celebrated for their deeds, but also their whiteness. People who do not see King as a true hero, need to check themselves and figure out what they stand for.

The parents of Riverside argued and failed. Praise should be rendered to the courts for realizing the absurdity of the community's protests. The event in Riverside sends a glaring message about America's unwillingness for people of color to become a part of America. Hence, the importance of the Million Woman March.

The march was a fight for the rights of the African-American woman. This event of 1997 can change the course of time, but Riverside attempted to invalidate that step forward. We must march and continue to resist this reality. We cannot let the events of 1997 to be forgotten.

The millennium is approaching. It as a dawning for the world. The new dawn cannot come if we do not come out of the darkness. Will this march simply be another event that we reminisce about? Or, is it something that we tell our children about when we come across the tattered picture? It cannot be. We must remember our purpose, so we can create the America that looks up to Martin Luther King Jr. We need to create the America where reality is not just white.

Where does the past end and the future begin? There is no line. It is our job, as people, to stop the broken record from repeating. We have to break down this ideology. I am the person who lifts up the rocks of the world. Underneath them lies the disease and pestilence that people wish would just go away. It is time for all of us to start lifting up the rocks, instead of simply resting our behinds on them.