“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
Washington DC
Excerpt from the speech given at the March on Washington
Certainly, the events of the past year should tell us that while we have come a long way in America, a long journey remains ahead. While racial bigotry is still a serious chord of discontent within our nation, it is too often used by our elected leaders to divide us, rather than to bring us together. Dr. King was the epitome of the selfless American leader that our country needs so badly today.
When Ronald Reagan declared Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday, he wrote, “Dr. King’s work is not done, but neither is his witness stilled. He urged again and again that all of us come to love and befriend one another, to live in brotherhood and reconciliation, to nourish each generation with the lessons of justice and charity that Dr. King taught with his unflinching determination, his complete confidence in the redeeming power of love, and his utter willingness to suffer, to sacrifice and to serve.”
“We must and we can all be drum majors for justice. That is our duty and glory as Americans.”
As Arizonans and Americans, we should celebrate this day and recommit ourselves and the words we use to those chords of public discussion which bring us together — the words which take us to a higher place that is worthy of all of the sacrifices made before us that enable us today to live in the greatest country on Earth.
Happy MLK Day.