One thing Martin Luther King Jr. didn't mention in his "I Have a Dream" speech was a deadline.

He never said he wanted his dream accomplished in an hour, a year, or even by 2007. He only hoped it would occur "one day," which sparks the question of exactly how long he expected it would take for the United States to become a colorblind nation.

It has been 44 years since the renowned speech from the man who is celebrated the third Monday of every January, and civil rights organizations believe there are many issues that still need attention.

"We've made a lot of progress since Dr. King's death, but there's still pockets of problem areas that need to be addressed," said Mary Pollock, Ingham County co-coordinator for the One United Michigan campaign.

Whether King's entire dream has been achieved, various organizations will continue to celebrate the progress of civil rights in the United States on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.

"That's why we have this holiday," Pollock said. "To remind people of where we came from. These leaders need to be remembered and celebrated."

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, & Immigrant Rights and Fight For Equality By Any Means Necessary, or BAMN, are two organizations that believe the fight for civil rights is far from over.

"There are still a number of different issues from a number of angles — from gender discrimination to racial discrimination to disability issues," said Harold Core, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. "We want to continue to work toward social justice as part of an extension of what King's dream was."

Luke Massie, national co-chair for BAMN, says his organization is doing everything in its power to bring the kind of mass movement needed to move closer to King's dream.

"King worked his whole life for access to education for black and minority students," Massie said. "King's struggle was the basis for rewriting the race relations and the social policies in our country. We have to take to heart the actual concepts and ideas and propositions that are put forward in King's speech."

Core said there still are disappointments occurring in the fight for civil rights.

"Overall, one of the largest setbacks that we've had is the understanding that what is good for one American is good for all Americans," Core said. "It's a struggle getting people to see past their differences and work together to accept and embrace one another."

Although King's speech brought about enough energy for some reform, today that same energy for equality seems to have faded.

"Now we don't have that sense of social mission anymore," said Pero Dagbovie, an MSU assistant history professor. "And it's not that people don't care — it's just that most people don't think there's a race problem in the United States."

Massie said King's speech is diminished because few people read the entire thing, therefore throwing away its true essence and the fight behind it.

"What's important about King is not the speech for which he is best remembered, although it is both brilliant and moving," Massie said. "What's more important is the struggle that he led that formed the basis for the speech. People should actually read the speech — and read the whole thing."

King was more easily accepted among the people of his time because in the middle of so many radical voices, he took a more conservative approach, Pollock said.

"A lot of people look at the civil rights movement as being the movement that significantly changed American society," Dagbovie said. "The thing is, the civil rights movement was not some monumental movement as much as it was an extension of what others had been doing for years. The timing just happened to be perfect to spark things off."

However, King's speech and assassination left the country with an unfulfilled mission, Core said.

"He gave a goal and a vision for society to look toward," Core said. "It was very important. Who knows how people would have responded to him had he not become a martyr? People are less critical once leaders have passed on."

After the celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day have ended, the fight to satisfy King's dream will continue for many organizations.

"He envisioned a society of sisterhood and brotherhood, of universal respect, a fraternity and sorority of all the people in the world — and we are nowhere near that," Massie said. "It is going to take a determined struggle. The brutality that King willed against in his speech is alive and well today."