MLK Day Community Poem 2026
We Dream a Durham...
I dream a Durham that’s was a happy place for everybody to come and visit their family and to just feel safe.
Where everyone has a place to live and call home.
Where everyone feels truly welcome, where everyone feels safe and that their voice is heard. Where I trust that my neighbors have each other's backs.
I dream of a Durham where everyone with different backgrounds and identities are accepted as equals.
Where all genders are allowed to do all the things.
Where people can be nice to everyone.
Where we don't judge by skin color but by actions, and we include all skin colors.
Where all people can talk and have fun with one another without the ideas of skin color, wealth, and background.
Where we truly see each other, hear each other, and no longer "other" each other.
No separation, only collaboration.
I dream for Durham to be equal.
I dream a Durham that is environmentally-friendly, free of ICE, has less gentrification, and is affordable for all of its citizens.
Where all foreign-born residents have safe access to the same services as anyone else.
Where nobody stops us from having rights and people from different countries can come and stay here.
I dream a Durham where our education prepares us for adulthood, life, taxes, and the future to come.
Where democracy isn't fragile and education is agile.
Where youth are seen and their voices heard and valued.
Where every young person has at least one adult who truly sees them & believes in them.
I dream a Durham where all youth can go to school without fearing for their safety or the safety of their families. More parks, more baby playgrounds, kids play together safely.
Where there is no crime.
Where all kids can play video games together.
With better lunches (because I heard there are better)..
More restaurants. To watch Steel Ball Run.
I have a dream where the Lakers would come to Durham and dance.
Where we add a professional sports team.
Where gas prices are low, and criminals in jail are high, and we all eat Zaxby's.
I dream a Durham where more families can afford suitable housing, and youth have an opportunity to thrive.
With free health care, big houses, and more cool buildings.
Where housing is affordable for everybody.
I dream a Durham where all families have the foundational resources to thrive.
Where everyone is fed. Where everyone has money. Where everybody has enough money for food,
Everybody has enough things to survive with.
Where all kids grow up with a small nest egg of real savings that can grow over time and be used as an adult to invest in an education, home or business.
More places to help unhoused people.
Where there is no need for charity.
A Durham where everyone succeeds.
I dream less trash on the roads and the city is clean and there is no litter.
Becoming better with no poverty and clean places.
I dream a Durham where there's recycling and no littering.
Where People are more aware and Durham adapts to terrible changes happening in our world. More trash cans and recycling bins that label what belongs in there.
(Not everyone wants to walk to the nearest store just to throw away a bag of chips.)
Where we see our true nature reflected in the beauty and wonder of nature.
I dream a Durham where everyone can live out their dreams and live in peace in a community of care and love for one another.
A safe and accepting community where all have equal access to education and opportunity. Where everyone is safe. Where there is no violence.
That is good.
Where nobody gives up. I dream a world for all where the future opens and infinite hopelessness is cured.
Where empathy is a priority.
I dream a Durham where we are all healthy, happy individuals.
Where each person is treated with compassion and kindness, and each person can live in safety and comfort.
I dream a Durham so that there could be more peace.
Dónde siempre reine la paz.
This poem is in celebration of Dr. King and those who, like him, helped us to imagine a more just, inclusive world, was created from the contributions of nearly 100 Durham dreamers, ages 4-92, including:
Anonymous(es) | Michelle’s 1st grade class, Central Park School for Children | cole winston | Eliza. | Marnie | Deepak Kannan | Sofia | Zora Williams | Zuri (she/they), 2nd grade, Forest View | a boy | Jeffery Beam, poet | Adam Clark | NC State Representative Marcia Morey | Donna | Matt Kopec, Durham City Council | Carolyn | Olvan Rogel | Durham County Commissioner Wendy Jacobs | Caleb Katzenstein | Hannah Katzenstein | Carl Rist, Durham City Council
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FOR REFLECTION
* Which dreams do you especially relate to? Do you see any common themes in the dreams?
* How do you think kids & youth can help these dreams come true? families? What can we ask our elected officials to do to make these dreams reality?
*. This poem is woven from the dreams of all different kinds of people. How does it feel to see everyone's dreams together like this? How can we come together as a community to work toward some of these shared dreams?
* Can you represent these dreams in a drawing or a song or other artistic expression? Share it with us if you do!
