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Speech

	Monday, January 15, 2007
	Martin Luther King Holiday Speech ECUMENICAL MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE MLK OBSERVANCE MONDAY, 1.15.07 DANFORTH AUDITORIUM, 1160 ST. CYR ROAD 10:30AM
Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay
	GOOD MORNING BROTHERS AND SISTERS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. FIRST, I WANT TO THANK REVEREND TIMOTHY HUGHES, EVERYONE AT FRIEDENS CHAPEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, AND THE ENTIRE MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE FOR INVITING ME TO BE HERE TODAY. THIS WEEKEND, WHICH WE SET ASIDE TO REMEMBER DR. KING, HAS SPECIAL MEANING THIS YEAR. AS I WAS COMING HOME FROM WASHINGTON, FLYING INTO THIS AWFUL WEATHER, I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE POWER OF HIS WORDS, THE RELEVANCE OF HIS TEACHINGS, AND HOW MUCH WORK WE HAVE LEFT TO DO. IT’S JUST AMAZING…. THIS APRIL 4TH, DR. KING WILL HAVE BEEN GONE FROM US FOR THIRTY-NINE YEARS. AND THIRTY-NINE YEARS WAS EXACTLY THE LENGTH OF HIS LIFE. SO HE HAS BEEN GONE AS LONG AS HE WAS ALIVE…AND WE STILL HAVEN’T COMPLETED THE WORK THAT HE LEFT US. DR. KING CHALLENGED US TO END WAR, AND WE HAVEN’T. DR. KING URGED US TO BUILD A BELOVED COMMUNITY, AND WE‘RE STILL NO WHERE CLOSE TO THAT. SO TODAY, WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES, WHY HAS IT TAKEN US SO LONG? WHY THE DELAY? EVERY YEAR, WE CELEBRATE THIS HOLIDAY AND DEDICATE OURSELVES TO FULFILLING HIS DREAM. AND YET, THE WORK IS STILL LEFT UNDONE. IN 1957 DR. KING WROTE, “THE ULTIMATE AIM OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IS TO FOSTER AND CREATE THE “BELOVED COMMUNITY. AND THE CORNERSTONE FOR THAT COMMUNITY IS LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND THE LOVE OF JUSTICE” HE SAW THE STRUGGLE TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS, RATHER THAN THE ABSENCE OF CONFLICT, AS THE FERTILE GROUND ON WHICH TO BUILD THE BELOVED COMMUNITY. DR. KING DEFINED LOVE AS THE BINDING POWER THAT HOLDS THE UNIVERSE TOGETHER, TYING US IN THE SINGLE GARMENT OF DESTINY, HE BELIEVED THAT WHILE LAWS COULD MANDATE DESEGREGATION AND ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS, HOUSING, EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT, THE REALITY OF THE BELOVED COMMUNITY WOULD NOT MATERIALIZE OVERNIGHT. HE WARNED US TO AVOID VIEWING THE PROCESS AS A “SUPERFICIAL OPTIMISM” OR A “CRIPPLING PESSIMISM.” DR. KING WORKED HARD TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR THE BELOVED COMMUNITY AND HE NEVER LOST HOPE. HE BELIEVED THAT SOCIETY HAS THE TOOLS AND THE WORKERS TO BUILD THE BELOVED COMMUNITY. HE SAW HOPE IN THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS AS THEY CAME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO JOIN WITH HIM. MY FRIENDS, I TRULY BELIEVE THAT NOW MORE THAN EVER, THE CHALLENGE OF CREATING THE BELOVED COMMUNITY IS GREATER AND EVEN MORE URGENT THAN WHEN DR. KING FIRST UTTERED THOSE WORDS. I BELIEVE THAT IF DR. KING WAS ALIVE TODAY HE WOULD BE PRESSING FOR A GLOBAL CONCEPT OF THE “BELOVED COMMUNITY.”. IN HIS OWN PROPHETIC WAY, DR. KING WARNED US THAT” “OUR LOYALTIES MUST TRANSCEND OUR RACE, OUR TRIBE, OUR CLASS, AND OUR NATION. WE ARE FAST APPROACHING THE DECISION TO EITHER FAST-FORWARD THE CREATION OF THE BELOVED COMMUNITY OR FACE THE NON-EXISTENCE OF MANKIND. EACH OF US MUST BECOME ACTIVISTS. EACH OF US HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD AND OURSELVES. WE CAN BE ACTIVISTS IN OUR HOMES. WE CAN BE ACTIVISTS AT OUR PLACES OF WORK. WE CAN BE ACTIVISTS ON OUR CAMPUSES. WE CAN INITIATE CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITY, OUR COUNTRY AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.” DR. KING GAVE US THE ROADMAP TO CREATE THAT BELOVED COMMUNITY. OF COURSE HE HAD A GOOD NAVIGATOR WITH HIM…HIS DEAR WIFE, CORETTA SCOTT KING, WHO WE LOST THIS PAST YEAR. I WAS HONORED TO PAY MY LAST RESPECTS TO HER IN ATLANTA, AND I WANTED TO CLOSE TODAY BY QUOTING HER OWN REMARKABLE WORDS FROM JUST TWO YEARS AGO. REGARDING HER LATE HUSBAND’S VISION FOR CREATING A BELOVED COMMUNITY, MRS. KING SAID: “IN THE BELOVED COMMUNITY, THE VALUES OF CARING AND COMPASSION WILL DRIVE POLICY TOWARD THE WORLD-WIDE ELIMINATION OF POVERTY AND HUNGER, RACISM AND ALL FORMS OF BIGOTRY AND VIOLENCE. THE BELOVED COMMUNITY IS NOT A PLACE, BUT A STATE OF HEART AND MIND, A SPIRIT OF HOPE AND GOODWILL THAT TRANSCENDS ALL BOUNDARIES AND BARRIERS AND EMBRACES ALL CREATION.” LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BELOVED COMMUNITY THAT DR. KING AND MRS. KING ASKED US TO BUILD, STARTS INSIDE EACH OF US. THE FOUNDATION FOR THAT WORLD IS BUILT ON A SIMPLE STONE OF ETERNAL TRUTH… WE ARE ALL PART OF THE SAME CREATION. WE ARE ALL PART OF THE SAME HUMAN FAMILY. AND GOD EXPECTS US TO RECOGNIZE HIS DIVINE PRESENCE IN EACH ONE OF US. MAY WE GO FORWARD FROM THIS PLACE WITH A RENEWED VISION OF WHAT THAT BELOVED COMMUNITY COULD LOOK LIKE. AND MAY WE ALL RESOLVE TO BUILD IT TOGETHER SOON. THANK YOU. MAY GOD BLESS YOU… AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THE UNITED STATES # #