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“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.

My mom was there. She was one of the 250,000 people listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that August day. When I ask her about it, she lights up, “It was a thrilling experience which stands out in my mind as one of the great moments of my life.”

My mom was 27 years old in 1963. She, her husband, and my 8-month-old brother had joined others with the Committee for Non-Violent Action and spent the week walking from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

When I ask her about the experience, she said she was there because, “It seemed ridiculous that in the 1960’s, where the Constitution said everybody was created equal, that this type of thing--discrimination in jobs, education, opportunity, stability, housing, food-- was going on! This was all going on against a group of people because of the shade of their skin. I almost find that sentence hard to get out of my mouth.”

It was a warm day in Washington D.C. “It was so thrilling. There were people everywhere. The streets were flooding with more and more people coming from every direction.” It took hours to make her way to a spot near the first reflecting pool.

Marian Anderson, Joan Baez, Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Odetta, Mahalia Jackson, and many more singers took the stage that day. When I asked about Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech she says, “His speech was thrilling. He was an amazing orator. Charismatic. Everyone was electrified by his speech.”

Three years later, my mom adopted me--a bi-racial baby. “When they put you in my arms I just fell in love.”  

Dr. King’s dream was a reality in our house. I grew up in a home that did not judge people based on the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.