Like many of you, I have heard Martin Luther KIng's "I Have a Dream" speech and JFK's "Ask not what America can do for you..." We have also heard President Obama's moving eulogy for the South Carolina nine. I am old enough to have heard FDR and fortunate enough to have heard Ted Kennedy's unforgettable "My Golden Friends" speech at the 1980 convention that was applauded and cheered for 45 minutes.
But this speech and video by Bernie Sanders is perhaps the best of all. Because we so desperately need it. And not just for the homeless who tonight sleep in the rain under newspapers or the children who go hungry to school tomorrow morning. In the time of Martin Luther King we needed changes just as fundamental, but without the kind of changes Bernie Sanders now calls for, the dream of Martin Luther King is empty. Equality is nothing if you are hungry.
I give Sanders' speech to you now as a gift. Whatever happens in this election, this is our work to finish. I have been in politics all my adult life because of these and other issues of human rights and dignity. Now at age 80 I look to you to finish the job. I look to you with every confidence, as do all the hungry children in America and the abandoned old. For those of you in other countries, take care of your people too. We are all walking each other home. Be a blessing in the world and you shall be blessed.
Deeply Moving Message from Bernie Sanders
No comments:
Post a Comment