posted by Christi Parsons at 10:20 a.m. CST
Sen. Barack Obama spoke at today's groundbreaking ceremony for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.
In his remarks, he pondered what he will say in the future when one of his young daughters asks about the King legacy.
(Chicago Tribune photo by Pete Souza.)
Following is the text of Obama's speech:
I have two daughters, ages five and eight. And when I see the plans for this memorial, I think about what it will like when I first bring them here upon the memorial’s completion. I imagine us walking down to this tidal basin, between one memorial dedicated to the man who helped give birth to a nation, and another dedicated to the man who preserved it. I picture us walking beneath the shadows cast by the Mountain of Despair, and gazing up at the Stone of Hope, and reading the quotes on the wall together as the water falls like rain.
And at some point, I know that one of my daughters will ask, perhaps my youngest, will ask, “Daddy, why is this monument here? What did this man do?”
How might I answer them? Unlike the others commemorated in this place, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not a president of the United States – at no time in his life did he hold public office. He was not a hero of foreign wars. He never had much money, and he while he lived he was reviled at least as much as he was celebrated. By his own accounts, he was a man frequently racked with doubt, a man not without flaws, a man who, like Moses before him, more than once questioned why he had been chosen for so arduous a task – the task of leading a people to freedom, the task of healing the festering wounds of a nation’s original sin.
And yet lead a nation he did. Through words he gave voice to the voiceless. Through deeds he gave courage to the faint of heart. By dint of vision, and determination, and most of all faith in the redeeming power of love, he endured the humiliation of arrest, the loneliness of a prison cell, the constant threats to his life, until he finally inspired a nation to transform itself, and begin to live up to the meaning of its creed.
Like Moses before him, he would never live to see the Promised Land. But from the mountain top, he pointed the way for us – a land no longer torn asunder with racial hatred and ethnic strife, a land that measured itself by how it treats the least of these, a land in which strength is defined not simply by the capacity to wage war but by the determination to forge peace – a land in which all of God’s children might come together in a spirit of brotherhood.
We have not yet arrived at this longed for place. For all the progress we have made, there are times when the land of our dreams recedes from us – when we are lost, wandering spirits, content with our suspicions and our angers, our long-held grudges and petty disputes, our frantic diversions and tribal allegiances.
And yet, by erecting this monument, we are reminded that this different, better place beckons us, and that we will find it not across distant hills or within some hidden valley, but rather we will find it somewhere in our hearts.
In the Book of Micah, Chapter 6, verse 8, the prophet says that God has already told us what is good.
“What doth the Lord require of thee, the verse tells us, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
The man we honor today did what God required. In the end, that is what I will tell my daughters – I will leave it to their teachers and their history books to tell them the rest. As Dr. King asked to be remembered, I will tell them that this man gave his life serving others. I will tell them that this man tried to love somebody. I will tell them that because he did these things, they live today with the freedom God intended, their citizenship unquestioned, their dreams unbounded. And I will tell them that they too can love. That they too can serve. And that each generation is beckoned anew, to fight for what is right, and strive for what is just, and to find within itself the spirit, the sense of purpose, that can remake a nation and transform a world.
Thank you very much.
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Comments
"...did what GOD required"!?
So Obama is a acutually a RIGHT WINGNUT?!
OH NO-O-O!!
Posted by: Juanito | November 13, 2006 11:07 AM
Wow. I have to agree with him. Eventhough I am pretty much an anti-religionist (if there be such a thing). Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, was definitely one of the most annointed men in America's history.
As a black person, coming of age in the 70s where people flung MLK around like so much fodder to fill what was to become 'Black History', I resented the idea of him, swelling to the point of blotting out Frederick Douglas, Medgar Evers and thousands of other lives devoted to and lost to the 'idea' of equality for Black people in America (and eventually the Americas and maybe even the world).
I resented his meessage of non-violence, especially after the savage deaths of Mark Clark and Fred Hampton on Chicao's West Side. Not to even mention the riots, beating and deaths that occurred in his life time.
I resented that oft repeated, rarely understood 'I Have a Dream' speech as it rolled of some little boys tongue filled with baptist preacher inflections that are still being used to emotionally move people when they should be mentally stirred (okay, I still resent that, but it is hard to blame him for the success of that speech).
And I really, resented the fact that he was not 'perfect'. And that his imperfections were lost under the glare of his myth. I resented the fact that so much of the movement was buried with him and that political and monetary machinations have replaced social ones with so much ease.
Well, I do not resent him anymore, I celebrate his life and his death. His accomplishments and the fact that he is symbolic of a great effort on the behalf of a great many people. If ever there was a true 'Prohet' in America, it would have to be Dr. King. And because of him, I can have a much more human view of Prophets.
Posted by: B K Ray | November 13, 2006 11:20 AM
B K Ray,
2 quick comments.
Yes, YES we should always Humanize our heroes, lest we lose sight of the fact that we are all capable of heroism.
I don't decry the "baptist preacher inflections that are still being used to emotionally move people when they should be mentally stirred.." Al Gore can stir us mentally but only if he doesn't put us to sleep first. Style counts.
Posted by: Juanito | November 13, 2006 11:45 AM
B K Ray
Thank you for one of the most thoughtful and meaningful letters I have ever seen on this blog. I truly enjoyed reading it and, in a very short space, it told me a lot about the viewpoints of people whose lives are vastly different than mine.
Thank you.
RRD
Posted by: RRD | November 13, 2006 1:03 PM
From love notes to Democrat Rahm Emanuel, the "Swamp", like a forlorn lover, returns to its first love, Democrat Barak Obama.
If the "Swamp" is merely to serve as a conduit for Obama's speeches, and a cheering section to his serene greatness, why read it?
It is no wonder the increasingly unpopular Tribune is losing subscribers.
Posted by: Bruce | November 13, 2006 2:10 PM
I wonder if Ted Kennedy was there? Didn't his brothers give the order to the F.B.I. to wire tap him and to put listening devices in his hotel room?
Ahhhhhh,but that was a long time ago,before the crazed mental state of the libs to protect terrorists from the same thing. Oh,I get it now, King,a man of peace,it's OK!But,not for people that want to destroy us!Hmmmm.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | November 13, 2006 2:13 PM
I am not saying that style should not count, but affected styles with at a deficit of substance does a lot more damage and we get/got a lot of that. Any hustler can tell you.
Posted by: B K Ray | November 13, 2006 2:45 PM
Even Dick Morris says left wing politicians can talk about God all they want, because the liberals know they don't mean it.
Posted by: JD | November 13, 2006 4:45 PM
"The man we honor today did what God required"
I wonder if he believes in the flying spaghetti monster too.
Posted by: JD | November 13, 2006 4:47 PM
Oh, no. Obama is quoting Scripture. Somebody get that man a copy of My Pet Goat quick. He needs to be educated.
Posted by: JB | November 13, 2006 5:14 PM
I am not saying that style should not count, but affected styles with at a deficit of substance does a lot more damage and we get/got a lot of that. Any hustler can tell you.
Posted by: B K Ray | Nov 13, 2006 2:45:41 PM
B K,
I take your point. Great post, by the way.
Posted by: Juanito | November 13, 2006 5:37 PM
JD,I see you're bashing the black man again.
You guys will never win another election until people like you make an additude adjustment.
Posted by: JE | November 13, 2006 9:46 PM
I wonder if Ted Kennedy was there? Didn't his brothers give the order to the F.B.I. to wire tap him and to put listening devices in his hotel room?
Ahhhhhh,but that was a long time ago,before the crazed mental state of the libs to protect terrorists from the same thing. Oh,I get it now, King,a man of peace,it's OK!But,not for people that want to destroy us!Hmmmm.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | Nov 13, 2006 2:13:08 PM
No, Paulo. It is wrong for the government to conduct warrantless searches in all cases. Read the Constitution. I don't know of anyone that has defended the governments right to wiretap suspected terrorists. Listening to calls w/o probable cause, words that do appear in the Constitution, is what true Libertarians and Americans are against. You have hit rock bottom.
Posted by: jethro | November 14, 2006 9:07 AM
Only 1/2 a black man JE.
Besides if you were quick witted you would notice I was making fun of atheists and leftists who commonly rip on people for believing in God by suggesting they would believe in a "flying spaghetti monster"
Since I bet many leftists would support Obama, who also feel this way about people of "faith" I find it kind of funny.....hence the joke.
I guess I shouldn't expect obscure references to be understood by most on a public message board.
Instead I get people who take the intellectualy lazy route: Just call him a racist!
Good job JE.
Posted by: JD | November 14, 2006 10:23 AM
One more thing JE.
CONDI IN 08!!!!!!!!!!
I would honestly support her if she ran.
...but of course left wingers wouldn't notice the fact that she is a woman and black (not just 1/2), which would be firsts.
They would probably call her all kinds of names which I won't list on this board.
Posted by: JD | November 14, 2006 10:39 AM