thank you all __PUNCT__
i am deepli honor to be here todai on thi veri import commemor and for thi signific gather __PUNCT__
i want to thank bishop blake for hi leadership here at home and around the world __PUNCT__ particularli in africa __PUNCT__
hi person commit to the peopl and children of africa ha resound so profoundli beyond hi church and beyond our shore __PUNCT__
it set a good exampl and it issu a challeng for so mani other __PUNCT__
i thank you bishop __PUNCT__
thi is a veri distinguish gather here __PUNCT__
i want to recogn my long time friend ambassador charl stith who did superb work in tanzania and ha continu with hi innov and uniqu commit at boston univers to creat an archiv for the paper and memori of african leader __PUNCT__
that will be part of our histori __PUNCT__
it will not be lost __PUNCT__
it will be there for gener to come __PUNCT__
on think about dr __PUNCT__ king studi at that great univers and those who would follow in hi footstep or in ani other will now have a much broader and richer histor scholarship record to learn from __PUNCT__
i want to thank my friend and anoth great leader __PUNCT__ reverend eugen river __PUNCT__ for hi commit over mani __PUNCT__ mani year to help young peopl and provid altern in a wai that keep faith with our faith __PUNCT__
but which put asid the trap of church and religion and goe into the street __PUNCT__
that ha made such a differ to so mani over such a long time __PUNCT__
we ar also honor to be with the chairman of the judiciari committe in the hous of repres __PUNCT__ congressman john conyer __PUNCT__ who ha led with such prophet commit as well to what is right __PUNCT__
and now is in a posit to influenc the futur of our countri __PUNCT__
it will be a good dai __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ chairman __PUNCT__ when you don't have to be investig all of the abus of power of a presid ani longer __PUNCT__
and we be abl to come togeth around a posit agenda __PUNCT__
congressman steve cohen __PUNCT__ i grate for hi leadership __PUNCT__
my dear friend __PUNCT__ congresswoman sheila jackson lee __PUNCT__ who just came in __PUNCT__ who is __PUNCT__ i would sai peripatet __PUNCT__ in that she ha more mile log than anyon i know __PUNCT__
i talk to sheila from iraq __PUNCT__ from africa __PUNCT__ from texa __PUNCT__ new york __PUNCT__ washington __PUNCT__ d.c __PUNCT__ becaus she is a woman on the move __PUNCT__
i so pleas that she is here as well __PUNCT__
mayor willi herenton __PUNCT__ on of the great long __PUNCT__ time commit mayor of thi citi __PUNCT__ and is help to overse it renaiss __PUNCT__
memphi is on the wai back __PUNCT__ mayor and that ha a lot to do with your spirit and your love of thi citi __PUNCT__
mayor wharton of shelbi counti __PUNCT__ your partner in such activ __PUNCT__
on of the reason i want to be here todai wa not onli to honor the memori __PUNCT__ the legaci and the challeng left to us by dr __PUNCT__ king __PUNCT__ but also to support memphi and to support what you ar try to do to realli seiz the futur with confid and optim __PUNCT__
bishop brook __PUNCT__ bishop mack __PUNCT__ other distinguish clergi who ar here __PUNCT__
i am not sure if all of us ar awar of the come togeth in memphi todai of so mani from so mani differ group to find common caus __PUNCT__
now we must leav memphi unit and commit to the chang that await our action __PUNCT__
ruth davi __PUNCT__ the head of memphi sanit worker __PUNCT__ that is such an import person to recogn becaus in a veri real wai we would not be here if it were not for that strike and that demand in for human right and justic that happen __NUM__ year ago __PUNCT__
secretari rodnei slater __PUNCT__ it is alwai an honor to be anywher with my long __PUNCT__ time friend from arkansa __PUNCT__
some week ago i wa with reverend billi kyle at hi church __PUNCT__
as anyon who know reverend kyle can attest __PUNCT__ he ha spent the last __NUM__ year wit __PUNCT__ wit to dr __PUNCT__ king life and death __PUNCT__ becaus he wa a wit __PUNCT__
a wit who ha taken the horror and tragedi of that dai and channel it into a mission to reach out wherev anyon who would listen to what wa at stake __PUNCT__ and still is __PUNCT__ in our countri and around the world __PUNCT__
it is hard to believ that it ha been __NUM__ year __PUNCT__
and it is also heart __PUNCT__ break to know that dr __PUNCT__ king ha been gone from thi earth longer than he wa here __PUNCT__
when on think of hi life __PUNCT__ such a short life __PUNCT__ go by in just a moment of time __PUNCT__ but have such a profound and last impact on all of us __PUNCT__
as a young woman __PUNCT__ i wa privileg to be taken to hear dr __PUNCT__ king speak by a youth minist who open my ey and ear and my horizon __PUNCT__
dr __PUNCT__ king call to action that even in chicago led me to confront a world bigger and broader than the on i inhabit __PUNCT__
he had a wai of do that __PUNCT__ of push us outsid our own comfort zone __PUNCT__ of make it clear that we had to be part of the revolut that wa go on __PUNCT__
it wasn't a revolut of gun __PUNCT__
it wa a revolut of heart and mind __PUNCT__ of attitud and action __PUNCT__
when on heard dr __PUNCT__ king speak __PUNCT__ and i stood in line for a veri long time that night to shake hi hand __PUNCT__
and he wa graciou __PUNCT__ and he wa kind to lean over to shake the hand of a __NUM__ __PUNCT__ year __PUNCT__ old girl from the from the suburb of chicago __PUNCT__ who went to an all __PUNCT__ white church and an all __PUNCT__ white school __PUNCT__ and live in an all __PUNCT__ white suburb __PUNCT__
but he didn't ask me __PUNCT__ as i reach out my hand __PUNCT__ where do you live __PUNCT__ what is your experi __PUNCT__ he just took it and look in my face and thank me for come __PUNCT__
that dr __PUNCT__ king had such a profound and last impact on a young white girl __PUNCT__ that he had that kind of impact on million of peopl of all color __PUNCT__ faith __PUNCT__ ag and walk of life __PUNCT__ tell us someth about the reach and power of hi vision __PUNCT__
it wa a vision big enough and bold enough and grace __PUNCT__ fill enough to embrac everi last on of us __PUNCT__
and when he came here to memphi to speak out on behalf of worker __PUNCT__ he wasn't onli speak for those sanit worker who were deni their right __PUNCT__ who had seen two of their fellow worker die in a cascad of garbag a few week befor __PUNCT__
he wa speak out for all worker everywher who ar exploit and abus and deni their basic right __PUNCT__
when dr __PUNCT__ king protest the vietnam war __PUNCT__ he wasn't just speak on behalf of black soldier __PUNCT__ but all soldier and civilian __PUNCT__ vietnames and american alik __PUNCT__
when he work on behalf of the poor here in america and around the world __PUNCT__ he wasn't just speak for the poor he knew __PUNCT__ that he could see with hi own ey __PUNCT__ but the poor who knew no boundari of geographi or color __PUNCT__
and when he stood against discrimin __PUNCT__ he wasn't just seek to free african american from the shackl of slaveri and the past that had been shape by that abomin __PUNCT__ he wa seek to break the shackl of hatr on the heart of us all __PUNCT__
he yearn for our countri to fulfil the ideal that it had given lip servic to __PUNCT__ that were embodi in our found document __PUNCT__
in hi last speech here __PUNCT__ he took us on a tour of histori __PUNCT__ but show us the unfinish busi and unreal promis of america __PUNCT__
dr __PUNCT__ king understood our constitut better than most of us __PUNCT__
he knew it wa craft to expand as our heart expand __PUNCT__
it wa not a constrict document from on place in time __PUNCT__ but an expans proclam of what america could becom if we had the courag to do so __PUNCT__
slaveri wa written onto that document __PUNCT__ but so wa the potenti for equal __PUNCT__
he wage that revolut __PUNCT__ but not just to chang our law __PUNCT__ as i heard bishop blake talk about __PUNCT__ but to chang our heart and behavior __PUNCT__
he remind us that those who sign our found document were sign a promissori note to which everi american wa to fall heir __PUNCT__ the promis of life __PUNCT__ liberti and the pursuit of happi __PUNCT__
in the end he ask noth more than that we redeem that promis __PUNCT__ each in our own wai through faith __PUNCT__ base institut __PUNCT__ through our busi __PUNCT__ our labor union __PUNCT__ through our polit and public servic __PUNCT__
and even though as origin draft we did not includ dr __PUNCT__ king or me either __PUNCT__ women and african american were left out of america found promis __PUNCT__ but he never gave up and neither should we __PUNCT__
hi faith in america anim and sustain hi journei __PUNCT__
like with ani faith __PUNCT__ there were dark moment when on doubt __PUNCT__ when on is on the brink of give up and throw in the towel __PUNCT__
but he would alwai come back from those dark place and so must we __PUNCT__
the tenac of dr __PUNCT__ king faith is all the more extraordinari when we think of the wai it wa test __PUNCT__
by all the critic and the media attack hi work __PUNCT__ by the death threat __PUNCT__ the bomb __PUNCT__ the beat __PUNCT__ the stab __PUNCT__ the murder __PUNCT__ the grind hard work dai after dai of just get up and move on __PUNCT__ even the speech he gave here at thi great complex wasn't suppos to be deliv __PUNCT__
the crowd demand it __PUNCT__
and he came __PUNCT__
he alwai answer the call __PUNCT__
for those who ar clergi __PUNCT__ you know that it sometim test on constitut and on faith to constantli be ask to do more to reach out to keep go __PUNCT__
someon of lesser heart and lesser faith might have grown weari do good __PUNCT__ might have given up __PUNCT__ but he persist in the struggl __PUNCT__
and we know the result __PUNCT__
so much ha chang __PUNCT__
i look at the young peopl stand in the back of thi room __PUNCT__
and it mai be hard for you to imagin what you read in the histori book __PUNCT__ what your parent and your grandpar tell you __PUNCT__
jim crow is now someth you read about __PUNCT__
the peopl in thi room live under it __PUNCT__
becaus of dr __PUNCT__ king __PUNCT__ these young peopl __PUNCT__ my daughter gener __PUNCT__ grew up take for grant that children of all color could attend school togeth __PUNCT__
becaus of him __PUNCT__ after __NUM__ year and __NUM__ presid who have been white men __PUNCT__ thi next gener will grow up take for grant that a woman or an african american can be presid of the unit state of america __PUNCT__
but as far as we come __PUNCT__ we know the journei is far from over __PUNCT__
some dai when you open up the newspap and you read the headlin __PUNCT__ it feel like we tumbl right back down that mountain top __PUNCT__ doesn't it __PUNCT__ some dai it amaz how deep the vallei can be __PUNCT__
at time like those i think of what dr __PUNCT__ king said in hi last speech __PUNCT__ how he acknowledg we ar live in a time of turmoil and upheav __PUNCT__ but then admonish us to rememb onli when it is dark enough can you see the star __PUNCT__
dr __PUNCT__ king saw the dark of a nation torn apart by petti human differ __PUNCT__ but he imagin on knit back togeth by our share human __PUNCT__
he saw so mani go hungri in a land of plenti __PUNCT__ but he envis an america where our prosper wa share __PUNCT__
he saw america embroil in an endless war __PUNCT__ but imagin a principl peac __PUNCT__
while our problem were grave __PUNCT__ he never stop believ that our promis wa greater __PUNCT__
he saw us not as we were __PUNCT__ but as we could and should be __PUNCT__
isn't it about time we start see ourselv as dr __PUNCT__ king saw us __PUNCT__ isn't it about time we came togeth as we have in memphi to find the solut to make america what it can and should be __PUNCT__ when i sai solut __PUNCT__ i mean good job __PUNCT__
job you can rais a famili on __PUNCT__
job that give peopl a shot at the middl class __PUNCT__ to be abl to stai there and live with digniti and respect __PUNCT__
when i sai solut __PUNCT__ i mean respect the role of the american labor movement that ha given that digniti and respect to so mani __PUNCT__
thi time __PUNCT__ onc again __PUNCT__ to give back the support we need to those who help worker organ and demand their right __PUNCT__
when i sai solut __PUNCT__ i mean final address the scourg of poverti that stalk so mani __PUNCT__
i believ __PUNCT__ mayor __PUNCT__ memphi ha about a __NUM__ __PUNCT__ poverti rate __PUNCT__ down over the last year __PUNCT__ but still far too high __PUNCT__
i believ we should appoint a cabinet level posit that will be sole and fulli devot to end poverti as we know it in america __PUNCT__
a posit that will focu the attent of our nation on the issu and never let it go __PUNCT__
a person who i could see be ask by the presid everi singl dai what have you done to end poverti in america __PUNCT__ no more excus __PUNCT__
no more whine __PUNCT__ but instead __PUNCT__ a concert effort __PUNCT__
it the kind of solut that dr __PUNCT__ king son martin ha been passion advoc for __PUNCT__
when i sai solut __PUNCT__ i mean school worthi of our children that give each child a chanc to live up to hi or her god __PUNCT__ given potenti __PUNCT__
how about appoint suprem court justic who will actual uphold brown versu board of educ and not revers the progress that ha been made __PUNCT__ when i sai solut __PUNCT__ i mean qualiti __PUNCT__ afford health care for everi american __PUNCT__
no except __PUNCT__
everyon entitl to health insur __PUNCT__
no more go into the emerg room __PUNCT__
instead __PUNCT__ go in the front door to the doctor offic to be taken care of __PUNCT__ to get that prevent health care that will keep you healthi __PUNCT__
i mean restor america moral leadership in the world __PUNCT__ lead the fight against aid __PUNCT__ malaria and tb __PUNCT__ against poverti and genocid __PUNCT__
we cannot let our brother and sister in africa and around the world continu to suffer needlessli __PUNCT__
and i mean end the war that ha claim too mani of our preciou son and daughter __PUNCT__ end it as quickli and respons as humanli possibl __PUNCT__
and yet we must demand that our govern pass law that reflect our valu __PUNCT__
hate crime law __PUNCT__ anti __PUNCT__ discrimin law __PUNCT__ equal pai law and so much more __PUNCT__
but that is not enough __PUNCT__
the solut we seek ar not just about what govern doe or busi doe or labor union or even faith __PUNCT__ base institut do __PUNCT__
it is what each and everi on of us is call to do __PUNCT__
there is still too much hatr divid too mani human heart __PUNCT__
everi on of us ha a chanc __PUNCT__ practic everi dai __PUNCT__ to stand up to intoler and injustic __PUNCT__
like mani of you here who ar of a certain ag __PUNCT__ i will never forget where i wa when i heard dr __PUNCT__ king had been kill __PUNCT__
i wa a junior in colleg __PUNCT__
and i rememb hear about it and just feel such despair __PUNCT__
i walk onto my dorm room __PUNCT__ took my book bag and hurl it across the room __PUNCT__
it felt like everyth had been shatter __PUNCT__ like we would never be abl to put the piec togeth again __PUNCT__
i join a protest march in boston __PUNCT__
i wore a black armband __PUNCT__
i work to convinc my colleg to recruit more student and faculti of color __PUNCT__ but it felt like it wasn't enough __PUNCT__
and then a few month later we heard of the assassin of robert kennedi __PUNCT__ whose eloqu and courag had help to persuad the peopl of indianapoli to follow dr __PUNCT__ king exampl of non __PUNCT__ violenc __PUNCT__
i rememb wander through the encamp of the poor peopl march on washington talk with those who had come from liter around the world to wit against poverti and injustic __PUNCT__
it felt like the door had close on the hope that so mani had felt __PUNCT__
but that would have been such a disservic to dr __PUNCT__ king __PUNCT__
to have taken the despair __PUNCT__ the outrag and just end with that __PUNCT__
dr __PUNCT__ king taught us everyth we need to know about hi legaci and how to carri it forward __PUNCT__ but in the end it is up to each of us to walk that path __PUNCT__
it is not an easi path __PUNCT__
it wa hard for him __PUNCT__
it is hard for us __PUNCT__
sometim we take step backward so mayb then we can figur out a new wai forward __PUNCT__
but i have abid confid __PUNCT__ and ye __PUNCT__ faith that we can make our wai to higher ground __PUNCT__
whether or not we make it to the mountain top __PUNCT__ whether we make it to the promis land is not for us to know __PUNCT__ but i believ with all my heart it is for us to try __PUNCT__
and when we get tire and when our faith start to waiver __PUNCT__ we can of cours rememb dr __PUNCT__ king faith in us __PUNCT__
how be dog __PUNCT__ tire that night __PUNCT__ he left the lorrain motel and came here __PUNCT__
i sure he would have like a good night sleep __PUNCT__
i sure he thought reverend abernathi had done a fine job and there were so mani good preacher there __PUNCT__
but he felt call and he answer the call __PUNCT__
as the scriptur tell us __PUNCT__ when we ar call __PUNCT__ we must answer __PUNCT__
who will you send __PUNCT__ send me __PUNCT__
so here we ar __PUNCT__
let us rememb and return to the well spring of faith from which he drew __PUNCT__
on should re __PUNCT__ read dr __PUNCT__ king last speech __PUNCT__ just as we ask children to memor the __PUNCT__ i have a dream __PUNCT__ speech __PUNCT__
on should re __PUNCT__ read that last speech __PUNCT__
be remind of the prophet amo who did shout and commend us to let justic run down like water and righteous like a mighti stream __PUNCT__
on can rememb the sacrific and suffer of jesu christ __PUNCT__ who taught us to love our enemi __PUNCT__
what an absurd teach __PUNCT__
at the time it wa given __PUNCT__ it wa not even in the conscious of human __PUNCT__
love our enemi __PUNCT__ turn the other cheek __PUNCT__ what wa he talk about __PUNCT__ and yet __PUNCT__ that ha been a prophet call that ha echo throughout the gener __PUNCT__
on that dr __PUNCT__ king took to heart __PUNCT__
and let us rememb the faith and courag of dr __PUNCT__ king brave widow __PUNCT__
she return to thi citi less than a week after hi death to lead the march __PUNCT__ the march for justic __PUNCT__
she had not yet buri her husband and she wa determin to carri on hi work __PUNCT__
with three of her children at her side __PUNCT__ she did so with ten of thousand of peopl in solidar with those strike worker __PUNCT__
let us rememb how dr __PUNCT__ king faith connect us through time and place and histori __PUNCT__
the note of __PUNCT__ we shall overcom __PUNCT__ were sung in berlin as the wall came down __PUNCT__ by chines student march in tiananmen squar __PUNCT__ in south africa at presid mandela inaugur __PUNCT__
i even had that song sung to me by a group of women __PUNCT__ poor __PUNCT__ desper poor women in india __PUNCT__ who sang it in gujarati __PUNCT__ their nativ tongu __PUNCT__
from the prison of conscienc in a birmingham jail __PUNCT__ to a prison of conscienc on robin island __PUNCT__ from the student sit at a segreg lunch counter in greensboro __PUNCT__ to the student block the path of a tank in beij __PUNCT__
whether we ar oppress by tyranni __PUNCT__ poverti __PUNCT__ war or discrimin __PUNCT__ that faith __PUNCT__ that determin to keep fight __PUNCT__ work __PUNCT__ build and believ ha and alwai will carri us forward as long as we rememb and as long as we remain commit to fulfil dr __PUNCT__ king legaci and dream __PUNCT__
thank you and god bless you __PUNCT__
