Fifty-four years ago this month, on August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech.  Two hundred and fifty thousand civil rights activists had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to hear it.

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

Five decades later as we watch the tragic events unfold in Charlottesville we wonder, “What can we do?”

We can use our voices where we live.  We can speak up if we see inequality or racism.  We can teach our children that everyone is equal, no matter their race, skin colour, sexual orientation, religion, weight, education or bank account.  We can work to never be bystanders.

We can live by the mantra that love conquers hate.  That we are more alike than different.

One hundred years before Martin Luther King’s speech, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.  Lincoln said, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

We still have a long way to go.  But we have the power to raise our voices each day.  To do what is right.  To do what is good.  To always lead with love.  To never give up on the dream.