Without a doubt, I would describe myself as an individual of many dreams.

But unlike the typical human being, my dream is not to live in the biggest house or to drive the most expensive vehicle, my dream is to achieve nothing more than equality.

See, Brothers and Sisters we are living in a world where black students are 22% more liable to drop out of high school than white students…

And I know this number doesn’t seem very large, but when only 22% of black students that apply gets accepted into Ivy League schools this unbalance in the black to white ratio seems more large scale…

And then when we are either not accepted into the college of our dreams or unable to pay for college at all, and the only job available is one at McDonalds to flip burgers and to grind mcflurries society looks down at us as “the other half,” or as a kind white lady was passionately telling me the other day “the main ones bringing disgrace and destitution into America.”

My problem with this generation is that no matter how hard the black community tries to escape the preconceived negative light, we are always known for some act of ignorance, rather than being recognized for our brilliance.
And when the headline “All Failing Schools in Alabama are Black” popped up on my cellphone on February 20th, I could physically feel the desire to attend school draining from my body.

It made me question whether I should continue school or just start filling out multiple applications to fast food restaurants because it’s quite evident… that’s my destiny.

But because my mother worked too long and too hard, I will try to succeed and I refuse to be anything but great.
I have a dream that one day the well-known black stereotype of “dropping out of school” will be a foreign concept, and everyone will strive to achieve and even exceed their full learning potential, regardless of race.

I have a dream that one day Ivy League schools will equally accept blacks and whites, and that the boards of these prestigious institutions will go above and beyond to even try to maintain a fair balance of diversity
I have a dream that one day attending college will be a priority, and the “go to” safe haven for a source of income will not be fast food restaurants but a job that will respect its employees enough to know that minimum wage is inadequate for survival.

I have a dream that one day seeing the headline “All failing schools in Alabama are black” will only be a dream.

I have a dream that one day there will be more black lawyers, doctors, teachers and nurses. But first, my black brothers and sisters we must take more pride in ourselves to know that being educated is important.

That is my dream.