A Historic Speech

Barack Obama spoke today in Philadelphia about the condition of race relations in our country. It was one of the most encouraging and truthful speeches I have ever read. (I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.) Here's an excerpt:

But I have asserted a firm conviction -- a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people -- that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances -- for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives -- by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny...

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds -- by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand -- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

Read the whole speech here.  Are you inspired yet?

An Inspiring Example

In a couple of weeks from now, on April 4th, we will remember a sad day in history: the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today I read a very inspiring article about him.   I hope you will read it and be encouraged as well.  The author says the following about Dr. King:

He was able to bring corporations to the point of acquiescence without resorting to violence or bribery. He was able to pass legislation that changed the daily lives of not only blacks but also women, people of faith, and immigrants - without ever being elected to public office or attempting to buy political influence. He was able to garner and leverage the attention of the entire international community on behalf of America's poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised - without ever being appointed to an ambassadorship or other high-profile international post. He was able to remind U.S. citizens what a democracy was and to engender a sense of moral responsibility that, more than 40 years later, challenges us to be the good we want to see in the world. King was a political genius.

When I read that, I realized how empowered it made me feel.  Even though I am not an elected or appointed public official, I can still change the world around me -- right now.  Granted, it will most likely not be on the scale of Dr. King, but it can be on some scale.

Many times I incorrectly assume that the only way I can make a real difference in our country is to exercise my right to vote.  But this occurs only once or twice every four years, during a very stressful season that seems to turn even potentially great leaders into mud-slinging, truth-bending meanies.  Then afterwards, it seems as though I can only sit around helplessly and cringe when they make the very decisions I was hoping they would avoid.  I've been cringing a lot these last few years as our government enacted policies and exerted its power in ways far from the peaceful and loving manner I longed for.

But this article brings me hope, as the author references the "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do me" parable of Jesus and concludes with the following:

So in this politically charged season, when race and gender and ideology are, as we have seen already, apt to become weapons in a war for the hearts and minds and hopes and dreams of all U.S. citizens, all politics remain identity politics - but that doesn't mean we have to pit our identity against the identity of another. In the spirit of King - and Jesus before him - we can choose to identify with more than just ourselves. We too can be both privileged and unprivileged, black and white, Asian and Latino, Muslim and Jew, Christian and Pagan, rich and poor, citizen and immigrant, national and international, public and private, veterans and peacemakers, Republican and Democrat, homosexual and unborn, blue collar, white collar, and no collar.

We can know each other's suffering, be acquainted with each other's grief, and work on each other's behalf to heal the hurts that have for too long divided the human family and robbed us of the solidarity that is, perhaps, our only hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Who can we be today?  What hurts can we share and eventually help heal?  Who are the least around us?