According to Wikitionary, "civil rights" are personal liberties established by the 13th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Our quest for civil rights started as a movement that began in the 1900s, which was primarily led by blacks in an effort to establish rights for individual black citizens. This process was long even though today some people still feel it is inconsequential. Thus, we continue our pursuit for justice and freedom.

The civil rights movement cost a lot of lives, a lot of hardship, and a lot of grief. I understand that this movement, to some degree, has improved the way that we live our lives. But if recent current events are any indicator, we still have a long way to go.

The 13th amendment to the Constitution states that slavery is abolished and any form of involuntary servitude is unlawful. Yet the scars of slavery are still with us in the form of in-your-face and structural racism.

What is structural racism? It is all the ways that road blocks have been built to keep us from exercising our civil rights such as the following: the right to vote without barriers; the right to marry who we love; and the right of women to decide what to do with our bodies. It's saying that all men are created equally, but then not treating them equally. It is saying that all children are entitled to a good education, but are not receiving it. I could go on and on.

The 14th amendment, which was ratified in 1868, stated that if you were born in the United States you could not be denied due process of law. This is another area where I feel that we have a long ways to go. George Zimmerman certainly received his due process, but what about his victim, Trayvon Martin? Oscar Grant's life was violently taken by Johannes Mehserle, yet Mehserle served only one year in prison and has asked to have his manslaughter conviction overturned altogether! Compare that to 20-year prison sentence that Marissa Alexander received -- and she didn't kill anyone! She is a black mother who fired a warning shot after being repeatedly beaten by her husband.

What happened to the civil rights protections we fought so hard for?

So the struggle continues and we must move forward. I believe in order for us to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream for equality, we have to reach out and teach out. We have to show that the pen is mightier than the sword as we are doing today on our blogs. We have to get out and vote in 2014, teach our young people the importance of voting, and help them understand that blood was shed and lives given in pursuit of their civil rights.