COMMEMORATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY 21 JANUARY 2008
On Monday, January 21, 2008, we observe the national holiday that honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This commemoration of Dr. King's birthday is a celebration of his life and values, a time when we remember his work and his dreams. Coretta Scott King has described this day as one of:
"...interracial and intercultural cooperation and sharing. No other day of the year brings so many peoples from different cultural backgrounds together in such a vibrant spirit of brother and sisterhood. Whether you are African-American, Hispanic or Native American, whether you are Caucasian or Asian American, you are part of the great dream Martin Luther King, Jr. had for America."
In keeping with Dr. King's values, this is also a day of learning, commitment, and service to the community. During his life, Dr. King believed that "everybody can be great because everybody can serve." Commitment to service and taking action to improve the communities in which we live and work is a way we all have of putting into practice Dr. King's philosophy and dream.
There are many events and commemorations, parades and festivals, services and ceremonies taking place in cities throughout our region on January 21 and the days preceding. I encourage you to take the opportunity of this observance to think about the issues and events surrounding the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., and, with those in your community. Remember! Celebrate! Act!
On the eve of Martin Luther King Day—just moments before the start of the Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina—John Edwards’ campaign released a letter sent by King’s son, Martin Luther King III, to the former North Carolina senator, praising him for his commitment to end poverty and injustice and calling for all candidates to emulate his initiative.
“I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America,” King wrote. “My dad was a fighter…Keep fighting. My father would be proud.”
Edwards and King held a private meeting at the King Center in Atlanta on Saturday, and though details of that encounter were not disclosed to the press, the two men discussed Dr. King’s legacy and their “shared commitment to fighting poverty,” according to Mark Kornblau, a spokesman for Edwards’ campaign.
In his letter, King addressed the aims of Edwards’ campaign mission: “I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.”
The letter could not have come at a more opportune time for Edwards, who was asked at the end of Monday night’s debate, “If Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today…why do you think he would or why should he endorse you?”
Without hesitation, Edwards said because he has focused his cause on the “two biggest issues that Dr. King stood for, which are the issues of equality and ending poverty in America.”
January 20, 2008
The Honorable John E. Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Dear Senator Edwards:
It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father’s legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.
I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.
You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don’t have lobbyists in Washington and they don’t get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.
I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.
From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.
I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.
So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.
Sincerely,
Martin L. King, III
posted by ichbinalj at 12:30 PM
5 Comments:
With the holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as a backdrop, the candidates also addressed questions of racial equality.
Hillary Clinton and John Edwards compared their records on helping to alleviate poverty, while Barrack Obama was asked if he agreed with the famed Black novelist Toni Morrison who dubbed Bill Clinton "the first Black president."
Obama praised the former president's "affinity" with Black people but also drew laughs.
"I would have to investigate more, Bill's dancing abilities and some of this other stuff before I accurately judged whether he was, in fact, a brother," Obama said.
However, the South Carolina debate on 21 Jan 2008 was not all light and gay. There was some polite but angry exchanges between Hillary and Obama concerning remarks make by Bill Clinton about Obama that were not accurate; that is, they were untrue. Senator Obama said,"I am not sure sometimes whether I am running against Hillary or Bill Clinton".
On the eve of Martin Luther King Day—just moments before the start of the Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina—John Edwards’ campaign released a letter sent by King’s son, Martin Luther King III, to the former North Carolina senator, praising him for his commitment to end poverty and injustice and calling for all candidates to emulate his initiative.
The letter could not have come at a more opportune time for John Edwards, who was asked at the end of the debate on Monday, 21 January, “If Dr. Martin Luther King were alive today…why do you think he would or why should he endorse you?”
Without hesitation, Edwards said because he has focused his cause on the “two biggest issues that Dr. King stood for, which are the issues of equality and ending poverty in America."
In Washington, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who endorsed Obama last week, castigated, Bill Clinton, the former president for what he called his "glib cheap shots" at Obama, saying both sides should settle down but placing the blame predominantly on Clinton.
"That's beneath the dignity of a former president," Leahy told reporters, adding: "He is not helping anyone, and certainly not helping the Democratic Party."
That concern was also voiced by some neutral Democrats, who said that the former president's aggressive role, along with the couple's harsh approach recently, threatens to divide the party in the general election.
A few prominent Democrats, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), have spoken to the former president about the force of his Obama critiques. There is some fear within the party that if Obama becomes the nominee, he could emerge personally battered and politically compromised. And there is concern that a Clinton victory could come at a cost -- particularly a loss of black voters, who could blame her for Obama's defeat and stay home in November.
"Be what you would seem to be -- or, if you'd like it put more simply -- Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."
-- The Duchess in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
Which gets me to that superficially charming, self-absorbed couple Billary, ever so possessed with an outsize sense of entitlement. What else to call Bill and Hillary Clinton as they partner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, tag-teaming Barack Obama with alternating blows both above and below the belt? It's an act the twosome plans to take all the way to the White House.
c i king
Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying he could inspire Americans in the same way her father once did.
"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," Caroline Kennedy wrote in an op-ed posted Saturday on the Web site of The New York Times. "But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
Kennedy, who was four days shy of her 6th birthday when her father was assassinated, wrote that Obama "has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things."
And she appealed to other parents to pick a candidate who she said could invigorate a younger generation that is too often "hopeless, defeated and disengaged."
Kennedy wrote that she wants a president "who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved."
Post a Comment
<< Home