Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
For The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne,
Secretary of the Interior
Martin Luther King Youth Event
January 12, 2007
Thank you, Joseph (Lawler, NPS Regional Director, National Capitol Region)
Today we celebrate the birthday of a truly great American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
But before we talk about Dr. King, I want to ask you a question.
I especially like the theme of today’s event, which highlights three things that each us can do today as we honor Dr. King. “Remember! Celebrate! Act!”
I want to talk about each of these three things.
First, we need to remember Martin Luther King as a great man. Remembering is important because we can learn a lot from the lives of great people like Dr. King.
We remember that when faced with injustice and prejudice, Dr. King told people not to respond with evil but to respond with good.
He lifted people up rather than knocking them down.
He drew people together rather than splitting them apart.
He challenged all Americans to remember the ideals that our country was founded upon and to live up to them.
These ideals include the belief that all people are created equal.
That each person is given by our Creator the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That justice is for all people and that we cannot claim to be a just nation unless there is justice for all people.
That America is at her greatest when we provide opportunities for all people to succeed and to build a better life for themselves and their families.
We remember Dr. King’s courage as a man of peace to stand up to persecution, injustice and violence and demand that America live up to these ideals. In the end, his stand cost him his life, and America tragically lost one of our great heroes.
Today, we celebrate what Dr. King’s life has meant to America. We are not a perfect nation, but as in the words of our Constitution, we are moving forward to establish a “more perfect” nation.
Martin Luther King set forth his dream of that “more perfect” nation – a nation where children of all backgrounds join hands together as brothers and sisters to work for liberty and justice for all.
We can celebrate the progress that has been made towards fulfilling Dr. King’s dream in the nearly four decades since his death, even as we recognize that the journey is not complete.
That leads to the final theme of today’s event: “Act!”
Each man and woman, boy and girl, in this room has a role to play in fulfilling Dr. King’s dream. What are some of the ways we can do this?
We can, as Dr. King did, embrace hope and not despair. He believed in the possibility of a better America and he believed that if we committed ourselves to working together, we could create a better America.
We can, as Dr. King did, believe in the best in people. He encouraged people to do what they knew in their hearts to be right. And we should do what we know in our hearts to be right and encourage other people to do what is right.
We can, as Dr. King did, show courage when we are faced with what is wrong. We can speak the truth when we see other people doing what is wrong, even if it means we will be unpopular. Dr. King spoke the truth when many people did not want to hear the truth.
We can, as Dr. King did, respect and value every person, regardless of the color of their skin or their religious beliefs or what country they came from. Dr. King told us to judge people by the content of their character and not what they looked like. We can do the same thing in our lives and we can encourage others to do the same thing.
Martin Luther King is one of my heroes. I hope he is one of yours as well.
Dr. King’s dream wasn’t just for America. It was for each one of you as well. He dreamed that you would grow up to have as good a life as you can imagine.
Each and every one of you has an opportunity to succeed. Each and every one of you has an opportunity to be like Dr. King.
If you study hard in school.
If you follow what you know is right and make the right decisions, even if others around you are making the wrong decisions.
If you give to others and serve others, as Dr. King did, and not just live for yourself.
I encourage you to say to yourself each day, “I have a dream for my life.” Then, no matter what happens, don’t let anyone steal your dream.
Let us remember Dr. Martin Luther King. Let us celebrate the light that shined through him into the darkness around him. Then let us act to fulfill his vision not only for our country but also for each man and woman and each boy and girl in this room today.