Kampala — One time on August 28, just the other day in 1963, an American, Martin Luther King Jr., gave a historic public speech that is popularly known as "I Have A Dream".

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial building, he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites would co-exist harmoniously as equals. None of the 250,000 and so civil rights supporters on that day imagined that the dream would ultimately come true through my cousin, Barack Hussein Obama.

Who knew that the guy we grazed goats with here in Africa (did we? Don't mind; read on) would take America by storm? Who saw presidency in this guy whose name resembled two of America's worst enemies since the late Hitler and the early Castro?

Obama rose against the odds, believed in America's creed of equality where quality is not judged by skin colour, but by the content of character. And when my brother rises to take his oath at Capitol Hill soon, his smile will most likely look like that of people who have turned every stone to get the partners they want into a marriage.

I know many women who spit in disgust at men's inability to know their level when it comes to dating. Some have even composed songs to ridicule guys who do not know their grade. To most female minds, dating and marriage follow social strata rules, where men date lower and women face to the skies. That way, marriage has acted as a vehicle for many women in their socio-economic transformation to higher levels. But men who take the same bus attract some frowns on many a face as jumping the queue.

It is that frown that scares some men from parking a bicycle to approach a 'my car' woman for a relationship. But some battle-hardened fellows give it a try and sometimes, on the day they get up on the right side of the bed, they succeed, moving their ratings up too. Then society calls them fearful names alluding to their parasiting on wives!

As if we were still living in the last century! One basic characteristic of men is to believe in oneself. This self-belief determines your esteem, ability to scale steep slopes and, more often than not, your quality of sex. I know male ego worships success so much that failure becomes an anxiety. But, thank God, nature pitted men against fast-running game and cunning women to get them used to failure, learning and adjusting to move on. I doubt if there is any man my age, who has never been snubbed by a woman. If there is, then parliament should immediately probe him.

We men accumulate rebuffs and live on to scale other mountains. Women actually look for confidence in the men who approach them and those with greater amounts, exude ability to manage the family and offspring. Those are the men who are with us in the Obama caucus.

Obama scaled the heights of this world's superpower by refusing to belittle himself, making us proud. But are you just going to sing his praises like you do not have your own feats to talk about? As soon as you finish this article, go for that mission you have always trembled at. If Obama can do it, why not you?

Like my brother, Martin, I have a dream. I have a dream that men will stop looking below their status when choosing a marriage partner.

I have a dream that women will stop snubbing men just because of their economic appearance and look at more durable factors.

I have a dream that whoever has gas to succeed gets chance to reach out for the heavens even if that person is not backed by orders from above.

I have a dream that one day, men will start enjoying the comfort of a working wife as househusbands.

It does not stop there. I also have a dream that one day, right here in Uganda, we shall outlive the disunity of majority reports and minority reports; a majority PAM award best artiste and a minority option, a majority Kyabazinga and a minority Kyabazinga; a majority rumour of what happened in the NRM caucus and the minority version.

I have a dream today; do not dare wake me up!