Posts Tagged ‘Martin Luther King’

5
Apr

Gift Of Diversity

   Posted by: Chen    in Journey of life

In his  “I have a Dream” address nearly half century ago,  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivered the following vibrant calls:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

Today, I feel compelled to seek inspirations from the vigor his words transmit, in the midst of sensing a dangerous trend of hatred inquietude.

Throughout the history human beings everywhere have been struggling to derive a just society. The recognition of reaching a just society as the principle goal has let to collective agreements in the forms of constitutions, laws, and other documentations. The ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights marks a great progress of human societies in emphasizing the underlying value of justice.

In today’s world, parts of the world are no longer isolated. Nations and regions are not static but rather organically dynamic, and societies everywhere are multicultural and multi-faith. We, in this world, are a People of peoples with different cultural identities that enrich ourselves and our communities.

It is more exigent than ever that the democratic framework within a nation and across the globe functions as it is designed that it is the protection of minority interests and popular sovereignty that popular sovereignty should not trump minority interests.

While the democratic framework and constitutions and laws intend to safeguard the individual rights and freedoms, they are what they are: frameworks. They provide us a “house” but not a “home”. We the people who are endowed with the capacity of conscience and the capability of resonance must give this “house” a soul: respecting individual liberty and embracing diversity. Only with such enlightenment deeply rooted in each and every one of us, can justice and peace become organic, natural, and enlivened.

No matter what faith and belief we have, we are all part of the same universe. It cannot be argued otherwise that the universe we are part of is created by the same Creator. If we respect and accept ourselves as part of the creation, we must respect and accept all the parts of the creation. The universality of rights is not just a value but it is the truth. It is rather conspicuous that discriminating any beings created by the Creator is an act of disrespecting the creation of the Creator, let alone members of our human family.

It is the harmonic motion of all the individuality and the uniqueness of each beings in the universe that forms the ultimate living art the Creator designed. Without the diversity in ethnicity and culture, our human music is monotonic, our human family is lifeless, and our human celebration is dull.

“Infinite diversity in infinite combinations… symbolizing the elements that create truth and beauty.” We are blessed with the Gift of Diversity. Let’s embrace it with open arms and celebrate it with open hearts.

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18
Jan

We Have A Dream

   Posted by: Chen    in Journey of life

 

Speech at a Martin Luther King Day Gathering in Washington DC, 1991
Edited on Martin Luther King Day 2010

Special MLK Tribute – by friend and artist, Haiyan

Today we gather here to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.

We celebrate an enchanted life of celebration, a life that inspires generations and generations to come.

We celebrate an everlasting spirit of enlightening, a spirit that transcends the fear within in commanding respect and longing equal rights.

We celebrate a mighty power in a human being, a power not derived from wealth or privilege, not from Royal heritage or government post, not even from a public election. A power emerges from the conviction and dedication to the unconditional love for the human race. A power that is deeply rooted in each and everyone of us that when it is finally being ignited there is no mountain of injustice that can not be flattened and removed.

We are here to let you know, Dr. King, that your Dream is being carried on not just in the hills of Georgia and the state of Mississippi but everywhere in this world; that your call to Let Freedom Ring is not just echoed in the hilltops of New Hampshire, the mountains of New York, the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, the Rockies of Colorado, and the slopes of California, but is being responded in chorus in the mountains of Himalayan, in the valleys of Danube, along the shore of the pacific ocean, and in the heart of the Los Llanos plains.

People, people are rising up in pride and dignity. People are saying No to tyranny and reign of terror. But, the ultimate victory for the peace-loving humanity is far from being claimed. In those states of totalitarian, laws are used to defend dictatorships instead of protect the people; peaceful calls for harmony are being suppressed with brutality instead of being cherished; human rights champions are being imprisoned instead of being praised. Even in this great nation of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and you, Dr. Martin Luther King, too often democracy is comprised to special interests, too often the so-called ideology overshadows the commitment to put the people first.

These words of Dr. King that “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality” describe well for our gathering today, in the context of the global family of humanity. We must “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” 

When we pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King on this special day, the best gift we can present to him is to remind ourselves about his dream, to continue his cause each and every day until there is no one in this world finds himself an exile in his own land. 

We have a dream: let freedom ring from every corner in this world!

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