Rick Warren, American pastor and writer, once said: "We are the product of our past, but we must not be prisoners of it." The America we see today is a nation built on decisions made over the centuries of its existence. Good and evil, stories of African American slavery. Just as the exile of Native Americans from their land still reigns today. However, America is no longer a prisoner of its previous bad and selfish decisions. Instead, people still celebrate sober advocates during these different eras as. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Chief Seattle are. They also praise them for their courage and leadership qualities. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963. Not such a good time for African Americans. A mild version of slavery; blacks treated as property and sold as an unjust labor force. The abolition of slavery has been in place for almost a century. Yet blacks still continue to experience degradation and are not treated equally to whites. After receiving disrespectful treatment from the Caucasian population. African Americans organize protests and begin demanding equality. Unfortunately, blacks continued to receive barbaric treatment from whites. Racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), terrorize, torture, and murder African Americans. in an attempt to express their dominance. Laws such as Jim Crow laws restrict blacks from voting and owning land. Segregation distances whites from blacks and ensures that whites receive superior benefits. Tired of being the inferior race. The 1960s is the time when African Americans actually rose up and began to fight for a higher place in society. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is a... middle-of-the-paper man... he believes would persuade him to appreciate and honor his land. The fight to be heard and be relevant, that's what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Chief Seattle are fighting. Although their battles take place in different centuries, they face the same oppressor. White Americans. Dr. King wants his people to feel free and not limited by rules based on skin color. Chief Seattle knows that sooner or later white men will occupy his land, aggressively or otherwise. All he wants is for them to respect the land as much as the red men. Chief Seattle believes that man and land are intertwined and that whatever happens to one affects the other. For the sake of perseverance and habitation, Chief Seattle urges the white men to take care of the land. So that their children can benefit from the beauty that they themselves have experienced.