Living the dream to me is not to be discriminated against because of the way I look or how I'm supposed to talk and walk. Not have these stereotypes for the rest of my life because for most of my life I have been told by people at school how black people are supposed to be. Some white people have said, "You're black so you need to wear your pants low," and all these other stereotypes. For a long time, I felt like if I was white then maybe I would be accepted and not be discriminated against. I felt like I wasn't good enough for the world and maybe I just shouldn't be here because clearly people hated me and wanted me to be gone.

One of the worst stereotypes in my opinion is how black people are supposed to act. Like I act the way I act, how else am I supposed to act? Stereotypes shouldn't be put on anyone. Stereotypes: an often unfair an untrue belief that many people have about people or things with a particular characteristic. Black people have been through so many terrible, horrible, unimaginable things because we don't look the same.

Bayard Rustin way Martin Luther King, Jr.'s right hand man. One of Rustin's most notable contributions to the African American Civil Rights Movement was his plan of the 915 march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. "We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." (Bayard Rustin 1912 - 1987) Some challenges he faced were because in 1953, he was an outwardly gay man who faced discrimination because he was gay and African American.

In the words of MLK, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ... I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'"

Another way of living the dream is to always love yourself no matter what happens because there are many things that could be worse. We all have gone through things but the bad things are what make us stronger and more vigilant. As Fredrick Douglas once said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

My idea of living the dream is to be accepted for who I am. Black is amazing, strong, resilient. We are so much more than the suffering.