Saturday, August 28, 2010

I Have A Dream for Tenacatita





On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and galvanized a nation with his words. On August 4, 2010 the residents of Tenacatita, Mexico were evicted from their homes by police in a land dispute. Have words been spoken loud enough, high enough and far enough for these people to return home?

They too have a dream. Two score plus years after Dr. King's speech, America has a black man sitting in the White House. In Mexico, a community waits to sit once more in their own homes.

We all have a dream. Dr. King's spoke for a race. The dreams of a community on the Pacific coast in Mexico are no less valid. Are no less real. But at this point in history the fulfillment of their dreams seems so very far away to them.

I too have a dream. I want to be able to once again see the sun rise and set in the ocean on the same day as it does in the winter in Tenacatita.

I want to swim once more in the aquarium. To body surf on a borrowed board. To share cerveza with friends under a palapa as children laugh and frolic in the mild surf. To share one more moment with the keeper of my heart in Tenacatita.

But those are my dreams, I know them well and they are the dreams of an outsider, a turista.

I can't hope to know the dreams of a community. My heart aches thousands of miles removed from where my heart comes to life.

On this day when a nation remembers the words of Dr. King my thoughts and prayers are with the dispossessed people of Tenacatita.



Posted by Mark Butkus at 4:46 AM
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3 comments:

  1. TinaAugust 30, 2010 at 10:52 AM

    Thanks! My dream too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeremyDecember 29, 2011 at 8:00 PM

    Everyone of us does have a dream. It is this dream that enables us to survive and hope for a better tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete

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