To Live the Dream!

When we are children we tend to idolize our parents and often dream of one day being just like them. As teenagers we start to learn that our parents are not the perfect beings we believed. It is during the adolescent years that we begin to look at our family, our backgrounds, and within ourselves to discover who we are and what want to accomplish in life. At this period of our lives we think about self.

But then there comes a time when we begin to think about others. We think about how we fit in the world. For those of us blessed to be parents it is inevitable that we at some point think about the choices we have made in life and if it was for the worst or best for our children.

As a parent because of financial downturns, situations created by my refusal to dismiss the injustice that not only I but others have faced, I have questioned if this was best for my children. My mother always questioned me, “Mel, why do you always have to be a fighter?” I told my mother that you don’t write your own destiny and that “A coward dies a thousand deaths a hero only one.” During times when I experienced the brutality of police officers, false arrests, stalking by police officers or attempts to be banned from neighborhoods I have resided in by government officials my mother, finally stopped questioning me with the whys. She finally said, “Mel, you always said one day you wanted to be one of the great M’s. I had a saying as a child that one day on T-Shirts it will say, Malcom, Martin, Marcus and Melodie.

What does Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life means to me is not necessarily the same to older African-Americans because I did not experience the degree of ignorance and bigotry as they have faced. Racism still exists but I do not have a connection to the lost this nation experience during his death. What I do connect with is King’s fight for justice and his dream for a better America. King’s life inspired me to reach me dreams.

Now the greatest dream I have is for my sons to live their dreams. While my youngest son is only two I am not sure where his destiny will lead him but my 4 year old is already a published author. My 4 year old created the “Fighters of Justice” book series. The Fighters of Justice are superhero characters that fight to protect the world. Unlike Langston’s thoughts of a dream deferred Martin Luther King Jr.’s heroic life and commitment to a cause has without doubt opened doors for my son, a 4 year old African-American boy, to become the youngest published author in the world to reach this goal and to live the Dream.

Melodie Shuler
Founder/President
UB1 Power, the Power of the Pen Publications
& The Law Office of Melodie V. Shuler, Esq.