In 1948, President Harry Truman signed an Executive Order to integrate the military and mandate the equality of treatment/opportunities for Blacks. Unfortunately, desegregation of the military was not complete for several years! All-black Army units persisted well into the Korean War. The last all-Black unit wasn’t disbanded until 1954. In the civilian world, the struggle for justice remained…and in some ways, still do. But, we’ve certainly made progress. Here we are today as military service-members and/or spouses, able to send our children to any school or eat in any restaurant. While President Truman opened doors that were once locked to our Black service-members, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was knocking–peacefully knocking–down doors in the civilian world . We must remember that although dreams tend to occur at night, they aren’t always manifested overnight! As long as dreams keep happening, the impossible will keep occurring. 

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the President of the United States, making him Ex Officio the first African American Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces. President Obama dared to dream, just as President Harry Truman also dared to dream, and just as the wonderful Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. vocalized his dreams! The Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will always signify the importance of dreaming the farfetched dreams, because eventually those dreams can be grasped.

Be patient and consistent in your hopes, and may you be pleasantly surprised when they become realized.