One of our 2-year old’s favorite books is,”I Have a Dream,” with beautiful paintings by Kadir Nelson.
She received it as a birthday gift from dear friends of ours and often requests it before bedtime.
As my husband and I take turns reading pages to her while her little sister looks on, I feel our unborn daughter kicking in my belly.
I can’t help but think about how my family is living an extension of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.
“I have a dream that one day … little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
The magnitude of his words resonate deep within my heart every time I read them aloud to my children, for they quite literally are “little black girls” anxiously waiting to “join hands with their little white sister.”
And while I believe King’s true sentiments were those of equality and peace during the civil rights movement – not a direct endorsement of adoption or transracial families – I also recognize families like my own likely wouldn’t be a possibility without his work and the work of other leaders who fought tirelessly for the rights of black Americans.
For Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of hope, for his marching and efforts of sharing his dream of equality and racial justice in this world, I am incredibly grateful.
Today, I honor his work and recognize the ideals he stood for, knowing he played a significant role in making this world a place where transracial families like mine are able to live and love one another freely.
