Brazil: A November to rescue Martin Luther King's dreams

Daniela Gomes and Dr. Bernice King during the Raça Negra Awards 2012

Afro-Brazilian journalist and blogger Daniela Gomes shares her thoughts on Dr. Bernice King, who was a special guest at the Raça Negra Awards in São Paulo Brazil. The Awards ceremony paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Gomes was the translator for Bernice King and for the American delegation at the Troféu Raça Negra.)

By  Daniela Gomes

November arrived and it’s over and all those who know me are conscious about the importance of this month to me, that even if I’m running I can’t let it go without to say anything, but this year I would like to bring a different post to celebrate this Brazilian Black Consciousness Month.

The activism is still here, but in a month where my emotions were touched in a deep way, for several reasons, I couldn’t bring an article that wouldn’t talk about me, about who I’m and about how I arrived at this moment. I hope you enjoy it.

In August, 1963 a young American Baptist pastor shared his dream with the world. It was a dream of struggle against the racism and it wished to find justice, equality, freedom and respect to the diversity to help everybody lives in a better world.

A simple dream took the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because his dream was too big for the stinginess of the racism around him.

But even the shot that killed him could stop the leader voice. His dream echoed, got new voices, new formats, new colors, new versions, new nationalities and in the middle of 1990’s it found in another point down in the Atlantic the heart of a little girl who had in common with him the Baptist origin, an unknown ancestry and millions of doubts about the reasons of her people suffering.

Through hip hop the words of the leader became known to her, they echoed on her heart and this little girl started to adopt herself the pacifist idea of fight for freedom for their people, for the fight against the racism and against the inequality that have been happen since their ancestors were kidnapped in the African continent and brought as slaves to a new world.

As the little girl was growing up, the ideal was also growing and her struggle against the racism and for the inclusion of her people got unthinkable proportions, it guided her choices, her relationships, her daily life and in an amazing way connected her with people in different places in the world.

In 2008, forty years after the death of the young pastor, the little girl packed and went rightly on her dreams direction: to know the land of that who was her inspiration, once she was there, she walked on the same streets that he used to walk, he entered on the same house where he was born, she ate at the restaurant where he used to meet and she cried, she cried for everything that mean to her and for the way how in a symbolic way it could make her closer not only to him, but to all the others who heard  the same dream that have been preached in these past forty years echoed.

Four years later, the struggle faces each day more barriers, but it also got some victories. Connected with the real and the virtual world the little girl fights making her own voice echoed talking about the reality of her people for brothers and sisters around the world and also translating several voices to don’t let the language be an obstacle in this struggle.

So on this November the voice of the little girl echoed another voice, the voice of a woman that was only four years old when her dad was killed, but that still carries on her body the name and memories of his struggle.

Her dad dream wished that she could live in a world better than the one that he used to know and that she could live in a world free of racism and that she could find the equality being finally free.
Dr. King’s dream isn’t a reality yet, but through his daughter Bernice voice this dream is still echoing and motivating black youth to fight for justice and peace.

The meeting of the little girl with the daughter of her idol has touched her heart and the emotion was too big and she couldn’t stop the tears. She cried grateful to the man who had the dream, she cried for all those who dreamed together, and for those who didn’t understand the dream yet, but she also cried for those who believe that on this November the dream was rescued inside them and many others.

Thank you Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thank you Dr. Bernice A. King for remind me about that little girl and thank you for teach me that sometimes we need to back and rescue the dream!

(See the bilingual, Portuguese and English, posting at Afroatitudes)


Also see:
In its 10th edition, the Troféu Raça Negra, Brazil's Essence Awards, honors Bernice King, daughter of MLK and Afro-Brazilians who shined in 2012 

November 20 - Brazil celebrates Black Awareness Day