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My speech for Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 8th, 2007 03:39 pmI posted earlier about how my company is having a celebration for Martin Luther King Day (MLK Day), and that I was asked to give a brief speech representing the LGBT group.
Here is my rough draft of what I'll say. Any thoughts?
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Unity
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today – I am very honored to be here.
(Intro self and which network group I’m with, if need be)
Preparing to speak today gave me a wonderful chance to re-read Dr Martin Luther King’s speeches and letters, and it was a very moving experience.
It was also an experience that made me think back to an event several years ago when I was in college (better make that MANY years ago when I was in college…) and I attended a demonstration. The KKK had held a demonstration in DuPage county where I lived.
• A counter-rally was held at a different location to draw attention away from the KKK’s hatred and on to unity and peace.
• I had attended the counter-rally with a student lesbian and gay group, and I had wondered ‘Should we be here as an LGBT group? Maybe we should attend as individuals but is it right for an LGBT group to be here as a group? We don’t want to be taking attention away from the issue.’
• Well, KKK has multiple targets for its hatred. They target Blacks and Jews, Hispanics, and Gays and Lesbians. We all have to stand together and speak up for what is right.
• But I’m not here to talk about the KKK or focus on the negative. Let’s instead celebrate MLK Day. We wouldn’t be here in this room together if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement. (Our company) wouldn’t be able to benefit from our diverse perspectives and backgrounds if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement. We wouldn’t be able to benefit from our diverse friendships and networks if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement.
• So, let’s talk about Unity. I am inspired by King’s words on unity in his “I See the Promised Land” (or “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”) speech on April 3, 1968 – the day before he was assassinated.
“It means that we’ve all got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharoah wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharoah’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.”
• I am also deeply inspired by the words of Coretta Scott King, who passed away just about a year ago. She supported unity. Speaking on the eve of the 30th anniversary of her husband’s assassination she said, “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Marin Luther King Jr said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr’s dream to make room at the table for the brother- and sisterhood of lesbian and gay people.”
• She also said, “For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people. Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, in Selma, in Albany Georgia, and St Augustine Florida and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions” – quoted in the Chicago Tribune on April 1, 1998, speaking at a luncheon for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
When I look around this room today and see your faces and feel your energy, I can’t help but to be filled with hope. Hope that not only (Our company) will continue to benefit from our diverse experiences and from our leadership, but also that our culture at large will someday move past racism and eliminate all forms of bigotry – that some day college students will only know about the KKK because they read about them in history books, not because there was a need to attend a counter-demonstration.
I will leave you with another quote from King, these words from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1964: “I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”
Here is my rough draft of what I'll say. Any thoughts?
-------------
Unity
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today – I am very honored to be here.
(Intro self and which network group I’m with, if need be)
Preparing to speak today gave me a wonderful chance to re-read Dr Martin Luther King’s speeches and letters, and it was a very moving experience.
It was also an experience that made me think back to an event several years ago when I was in college (better make that MANY years ago when I was in college…) and I attended a demonstration. The KKK had held a demonstration in DuPage county where I lived.
• A counter-rally was held at a different location to draw attention away from the KKK’s hatred and on to unity and peace.
• I had attended the counter-rally with a student lesbian and gay group, and I had wondered ‘Should we be here as an LGBT group? Maybe we should attend as individuals but is it right for an LGBT group to be here as a group? We don’t want to be taking attention away from the issue.’
• Well, KKK has multiple targets for its hatred. They target Blacks and Jews, Hispanics, and Gays and Lesbians. We all have to stand together and speak up for what is right.
• But I’m not here to talk about the KKK or focus on the negative. Let’s instead celebrate MLK Day. We wouldn’t be here in this room together if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement. (Our company) wouldn’t be able to benefit from our diverse perspectives and backgrounds if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement. We wouldn’t be able to benefit from our diverse friendships and networks if it wasn’t for the work of Doctor King and the work of the Civil Rights Movement.
• So, let’s talk about Unity. I am inspired by King’s words on unity in his “I See the Promised Land” (or “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”) speech on April 3, 1968 – the day before he was assassinated.
“It means that we’ve all got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharoah wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharoah’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.”
• I am also deeply inspired by the words of Coretta Scott King, who passed away just about a year ago. She supported unity. Speaking on the eve of the 30th anniversary of her husband’s assassination she said, “I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Marin Luther King Jr said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr’s dream to make room at the table for the brother- and sisterhood of lesbian and gay people.”
• She also said, “For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people. Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, in Selma, in Albany Georgia, and St Augustine Florida and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions” – quoted in the Chicago Tribune on April 1, 1998, speaking at a luncheon for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
When I look around this room today and see your faces and feel your energy, I can’t help but to be filled with hope. Hope that not only (Our company) will continue to benefit from our diverse experiences and from our leadership, but also that our culture at large will someday move past racism and eliminate all forms of bigotry – that some day college students will only know about the KKK because they read about them in history books, not because there was a need to attend a counter-demonstration.
I will leave you with another quote from King, these words from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1964: “I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”
