On January 24, 2016, I posted a blog titled, ‘Dr.  King and Malcolm X: Dream or Nightmare?” In that article, I wrote that Malcolm X challenged the premise of the Dream that Dr. King articulated in his speech at the Washington March for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In a speech at Ghana University a month later, Malcolm X exclaimed, “If someone else from America comes to you to speak, they’re probably speaking as Americans and they speak as people who see America through the eyes of Americans. And usually those types of {people} refer to America as the American Dream. But for twenty-million of us of African descent it is not an American Dream, it is an American nightmare.”

The question rather Black American’s relationship with this country is a good one (dream) or a continuous bad experience (nightmare) continues to be debated. This has been especially critical since the election of Trump to the White House and the bigots and racists seem to be crawling out of their holes and expressing their dislike of people of color.  As we celebrate another year of marches, speeches and religious ceremonies marking Dr. King’s birthday, we must also re-consider the question raised by Malcolm X fifty-five years ago. Using the hindsight of history, we must examine the condition of Black people in this country today; a prognosis of our progress.

Recently on my show “Discussions with the Writer Fred,” on Black Video News, I raised the issue with two well-informed guests. Allow me to share that broadcast with you and invite you to decide if we are indeed living out King’s dream or still stuck in the tragedy of Malcolm X’s nightmare. You listen, watch and decide.