Martin Luther King Day: The Dream Was Always About Freedom
I’ve written a lot about Martin Luther King, but since this year Trump has declared that the this day will not be considered a free entry day to national parks, it’s even more important to remind ourselves what MLK’s legacy is really about.
And every year when this day comes around, I find myself returning to his words — not just because they’re beautiful, but because they’re unfinished.
Here’s something people don’t talk about enough:
Martin Luther King Jr. was a fundraiser.
He didn’t just dream — he mobilized resources. He raised millions of dollars to support civil rights work, organize communities, fund legal battles, and sustain movements. He understood something that still makes people uncomfortable today:
You can’t create lasting justice without economic power.
Throughout history, some of the most influential changemakers were not elected, appointed, or born into power.
They weren’t supposed to “matter.”
And yet, they did.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mahatma Gandhi.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Mother Teresa.
What they shared wasn’t status.
It was conviction — and the ability to rally people, resources, and belief around a vision.
Dr. King’s most famous speech is remembered for its poetry. But when I reread “I Have a Dream,” what strikes me most now is his language around economic freedom.
He spoke of America writing a promissory note.
A promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And then he said something radical:
America had defaulted.
He named poverty.
He named mobility.
He named access.
And he refused to accept a world where people were allowed to move only from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
I think about that line often.
Because today, that “ghetto” doesn’t only exist in neighborhoods or systems.
Sometimes, it lives in our minds.
As long as we believe our lives can only go one way…
As long as we think our circumstances dictate our outcomes…
As long as we stay trapped in fear, scarcity, or silence…
We are not free.
This is why I talk about financial freedom the way I do.
Not as greed.
Not as accumulation.
But as choice.
Money is power — and yes, it has been misused.
But power, at its core, simply means knowing where you stand and having the ability to act.
Financial freedom can level the playing field:
in homes
in relationships
in workplaces
in communities
Not because money makes us better people, but because it gives us options.
The American Dream used to come with a single script:
college → job → house → retirement.
That script doesn’t work for everyone anymore.
So the question becomes:
What is your dream?
Do you need the most expensive path — or the most aligned one?
Do you want ownership — or mobility?
Do you want stability — or flexibility?
What does freedom actually look like in your body, your values, your life?
These are not financial questions alone.
They are human ones.
Dr. King dreamed of a world where people were judged by the content of their character.
I dream of a world where people are paid for the content of their work — not discounted because of their gender, race, age, or background.
I dream of transparency.
Of dignity.
Of systems that don’t rely on silence to survive.
And I dream of a world where people are not forced to stay in unsafe, unaligned, or unfulfilling situations simply because they don’t have the financial means to leave.
Freedom is not abstract.
It’s felt.
It’s lived.
It’s chosen.
Dr. King reminded us that the vault of opportunity is not empty.
The question is whether we’re willing to open it — together.
With Love, Gratitude (always for Martin Luther King & all of the true justice warriors), and Freedom,
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