When I was in elementary school, 7 years old, we had auditions for our “compassion day” keynote speech. I won the audition for the speech. The speech was Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.

I am a white dude (except during the summer when I tan ever so slightly). I beat out my friend, an african-american, to win the spot.

When word got around the elementary school, some parents protested in a letter to our music teacher, saying that I as a white kid, could never understand the meaning of those words.

Mrs. Gosnell, who was also african-american wrote back to the parents, in a letter (a copy of which I have kept all these years) saying-isn’t this type of protest exactly against what MLK’s speech was about?

On the night of the speech, I got up on the stage in the gym and Mrs. Gosnell told me to project as loud as I ever could-that my words would settle the debate.

Tonight we Americans nominated the first african-american in western civlization to a real position of power in our society, on the anniversary of MLK’s speech.

I am not a democrat, nor am I a republican, but I am damn prouder than I have ever been my entire life to be an American.

This is for you Mrs. Gosnell-I am so excited that we all have taken MLK’s words to heart in this country to begin to put this debate to rest.

Sorry to my science peeps, but I had to shout this from the mountaintop.