On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. shook the foundations of American perspective. He spoke for the common people, and those who had been tread on since our nation had been founded. He proudly stood for the weak, the unheard, the unknown. He advocated peace and justice, equality for every man, woman, and child. With his eloquent words and his powerful voice, he rallied the nation together--a nation united in the face of division. This man had a dream, one where we were brought together by our differences, not separated by them.

And 54 years later, we still reference this speech. We still call upon the words of the southern preacher to inspire us, to drive us, to give us hope in the face of fear and uncertainty. This speech is still the foundation of many peaceful movements, the core of what keeps us going to a brighter and better future.

Looking on the 21st century,however; we need these words even more. We need them now because our nation is on the brink of divide once again, and on the brink of success. We are together, and we are so completely apart. We support, and we riot. We love, and we are filled with hate.

As 2017 begins, I feel that these words should ring true through the ears of all Americans, especially our younger generations.

As a young adult who lives in America during this time, I have a dream that one day--we can all come together--gay, bisexual, straight, black, white, middle eastern, asian--and accept that we are different, and accept the fact that these differences will build us up as a nation rather than tear us down. I have a dream that my children will never have to hear the words 'white privilege', because no one deserves special treatment because of the color of their skin. I have a dream that women will love one another and that we will rise up and become strong, rather than tear at one another's throats because of the size on the tag of our jeans. I have a dream that discrimination becomes something in our past, that our children will know nothing about, because our nation will be so full of love that discrimination no longer exists.

I understand that as a nation, we will always have issues. There can be no change without the notion of a difference of ideas and opinions. Nothing will ever be rainbows and puppy dogs and unicorns and bright blue skies. Sometimes, it will be gray and rainy. Sometimes, we will fight. Sometimes, we will still not see every perspective. But, as a successful nation, as a union of one people, we must learn to compromise, to turn the other cheek, to support.

I have a dream that we will rise up.

Rise up from our past of oppression, discrimination, our vile and evil natures, and we will be the nation that inspires change once again--the nation that inspires love and challenging thoughts and the encouragement of different opinions.

Rise up, and become the nation our forefathers intended for us to be: strong, equal, united.