|
Today is January 15, 2007. Martin Luther King, Jr., would have turned 78 years old on this day. An inspiring American hero, a visionary leader in every sense of the word, a civil and human rights trailblazer - we join our fellow Americans all across the country today in celebrating the life and legacy of this great and graceful man.
Dr. King used to say that he was moved to speak from the 'burnings of his own heart,' and that is the purpose of this holiday. We are not here merely to remember and reflect on Dr. King's life and legacy, although that is certainly part of the day's purpose. But more than that, this day is about carrying on his message, and ensuring the promise of a civil rights movement that changed a nation only a few decades ago. To honor Dr. King we must do more than just remember him today; we must also resolve to keep his dream alive through our own actions and our own dreams.
So this evening, let us speak from the burnings of our hearts and join a dialogue of the human spirit that Dr. King so beautifully and eloquently elevated during his lifetime.
|
|
This evening, as we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we honor the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS with the John Thompson "Legacy of a Dream" Award.
Dr. King's message was as simple as it was eloquent: if we believe all God's children are created equal, then we must treat them equally...so that justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream. This was the clarion call of the civil rights movement in the United States, and it is a universal call to justice everywhere in the world.
He once said that, "...it is not enough for us to talk about love. Love is one of the pivotal points of [our] faith, but there is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation....Standing beside love is always justice."
The Organization of African First Ladies embodies Dr. King's ideal of 'love in calculation.'
Five years ago, in 2002, 37 African First Ladies and representatives signed a Framework of Action to combat HIV/AIDS on the African continent, creating the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS, which today includes 40 First Ladies from across the continent.
Through coordinated advocacy, OAFLA members raise awareness, advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives, promote treatment and support programs, and develop partnerships with international organizations and local partners.
Truly, the work of the Organization of African First Ladies could not be more urgently needed than it is today.
Worldwide, 25 million people have died, 40 million people suffer from the disease - more than half that number in Africa, and on that continent alone, more than 12 million children have been orphaned from AIDS. Last year, almost 3 million people died from the disease - and more than 2 million of those deaths were in Africa. By the time this day is over, 6,000 men and women in Africa will have passed away from AIDS.
Closer to home, the annual rate of new AIDS cases in Washington, DC, is over 10 times the national average and is now the highest of any major US city. Today, nearly 1 out of every 50 people in the District is living with AIDS.
This is a crisis of staggering proportion, and it is right that we call attention to this tragedy on the day we honor Dr. King.
The day before he died, in his last public speech to an audience in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King relayed the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, who came across the broken man on the treacherous road to Jericho. The broken man was tired and ragged; he could walk no further, and he was huddled on the side of the road, helpless. An able man walking the road saw this broken man, but crossed to the other side to avoid him, asking himself, 'If I help this man, what will happen to me?' That tired, helpless man would have perished there, on the side of that road, were it not for the help of the Good Samaritan, who reversed the question and asked, 'If I do not help this man, what will happen to him?'
As a global community - or as Dr. King said, as 'citizens of the world,' - the question before us is not, 'what will happen to me..." We know that is not the question Dr. King would ask. Think back to the song our choir sang earlier, one of Dr. King's favorites, "If I Can Help Somebody." The question before us today is "If we do not help our brothers and sisters in Africa, what will happen to them? Indeed, perhaps the question before us is, "If we do not help, what will happen to us all?"
Dr. King once said that he was "cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities." As he sat in a Birmingham jail cell, imprisoned on sham charges, he wrote that he
"could not sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham."
Today, we can not sit idly by and not be concerned about what is happening in Africa. If we truly understand the lessons of Dr. King, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, then we are compelled to show ever-increasing support for organizations like the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS.
In that same letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr. King wrote, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." This has never been more true than it is today.
Not more than a mile from where we sit today, in 1963, Dr. King told more than 200,000 men and women gathered on the National Mall and millions around the country of his dream to "create a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."
The world still needs this dream. And we must continue to dream his dream. If we do, and if we continue to speak from the burnings of our hearts in a dialogue begun by Dr. King so many years ago, we shall overcome the threat of AIDS - in Africa, in the United States, and everywhere. And we will create that symphony of brotherhood.
To quote Dr. King a final time, "The hour is late. The clock of destiny is ticking, and we must act now before it is too late."
Tonight, we honor an organization that embodies the spirit of Dr. King's legacy, and the grace with which he lived.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join Mayor Fenty, Coach Thompson and me in celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, as we present the 2007 "Legacy of a Dream" Award to the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS... |
