Good Afternoon.
Thank you for inviting me to share with you during the 20th national celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and his inimitable legacy and commitment to human rights and dignity for all.
Here in Atlanta, you and I have the personal privilege and historic advantage to feel Dr. King’s spirit everyday. We can visit his birth home, Morehouse College, Ebenezer Baptist Church, the King Center or his tomb to affirm that his presence is indeed alive.
But this month, this event, this moment is not about feeling his occasional presence, reciting his eloquent orations, or recounting his incalculable achievements. This day and this time are about how he lived, why he lived and how we can live up to his dream for our America.
It seems aptly appropriate that this convocation’s theme is “Building a Bridge Toward Humanity.” Because it is truly how Dr. King lived his life. He was a bridge builder.
Dr. King once said, “ In a real sense, all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.” That is the distinct sound of a man who knows the importance of mutual destiny.
To fully understand what a powerful and necessary force Dr. King has been, we have to look at the man and the movement as one. His faith and his commitment to nonviolence were his bridge to connecting people. It was through his lifelong struggle for human rights and peace that he was able to live out God’s promise for his life. He was called to connect.
The war waged against peace and liberty required a freedom fighter that had the biblical resolve and principled discipline to tackle such contenders. The young King was indeed a formidable opponent in this unavoidable debate.
He did not attach himself to a popular cause, or champion a political agenda; he simply accepted God’s command on his life to be — a bridge.
Bridges have been important connecting structures throughout our history. The physical infrastructures help us to pass over tough terrain and ravenous rivers safely. From the WW II bridge over the River Kwai to the Edmund Pettis Bridge near Selma, AL, bridges have been structural symbols of change.
Aside from functional bridges, there have also been human bridges. Men and women who clung to each other against the weight of water hoses to wedge a way for us. Bridges like Dr. King who connected people from Birmingham to Bombay. An avid student of the Bible, Dr. King was aptly acquainted with biblical bridges.
Bridges like Moses who was a link between the Isralites and Egyptians or Joshua who moved the tribes of Israel into Canaan to coexist. But it was the teachings of Mahatma Ghandi that solidified Dr. King’s conscious commitment to nonviolence and to peace.
King said that, “Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force...I found in the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi... the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom."
In one of the most violent times in this country’s blighted historical record he called for nonviolent resistance and it literally changed the course of history. He had the faith, courage and unmitigated gall to believe that justice and righteousness would prevail.
He lived a life that many of us can only imagine.
A life where second class citizenship was accepted and
sanctioned.
A life where dialogue was never the answer to political discourse.
A life where moral bigots held freedom hostage.
And a life where only dreamers could visualize diverse sisters and brothers at the table of brotherhood.
Today, I am free to ride MARTA where I want, free to eat in any restaurant I like, free to enter the front doors of any college or public venue and free to run for office because of so many bridges like Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” said Dr. King.
Today our nation faces times of challenge and controversy.
Where do you stand?
Martin Luther King, Jr. provoked us to participate and take responsibility in bringing the dream to fruition.
More than 30 years later we are faced with strikingly similar issues that King was compelled to address before his death.
Issues like poverty. Although today there is no formal Poor People’s Campaign, there probably should be; because more than 13% of Georgians live in poverty.
The average monthly food stamp benefit per person in Georgia is $80.19 yet the food stamp menu recommended by the USDA costs $133.50 per person if they live in metro Atlanta.
Challenge and controversy because some Georgians go to bed hungry most nights and have no place to call home and the fastest growing number of the homeless are women and children.
Eradicating homeless will take an array of service providers, business and government partners, donors and volunteers.
Challenge and controversy because the fight for a living wage for workers still garners some discussion in public policy debates, as workers strive to enjoy a quality of life they deserve and are entitled to.
Challenge and controversy because fighting for peace in the heat of war cannot be justified. “There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedent over the pursuit of war.”
The ultimate measure of a man or a woman is not where he/she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Where do you stand?
The homeless in Atlanta are wondering……….. where you stand?
A shelter who needs volunteers is asking…………where you stand?
An Atlanta Public School student who needs a mentor, is asking….where you stand?
The peacemakers are asking…………..where you stand?
So today in these times of challenge and controversy…stand because so many others built the bridge, plank by plank that we now stand on.
Stand because eliminating homeless is not a government problem but a community solution.
Stand because a quality public education should not be compromised or sacrificed in budget battles.
And finally, stand because Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the other bridge builders helped create the steady foundation that you are building your future on.
As we face perilous times of challenge and controversy, again I ask where do you stand?
THANK YOU.