PRESIDENT’S SPEECH

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’S BIRTHDAY

JANUARY 15, 2001

REPAYING A DEBT!

EARLIER TODAY, I WENT TO THE FUNERAL OF YET ANOTHER YOUNG PERSON. JOHNSON WAS KILLED LAST WEEK BECAUSE OF AN ARGUMENT WITH SEVERAL MEN WHO HAD ASSAULTED HIS COUSIN.  A YOUNG MAN 17 YEARS OLD, IS NOT HERE TODAY TO FULFILL HIS DREAM. 

  ON THIS DAY, MANY YEARS AGO, A CHILD WAS BORN.  THIS CHILD BECAME A GREAT MAN, A GREAT MINISTER,  A GREAT CIVIL RIGHT’S LEADER, A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, YET HE WAS ABOVE ALL OF THAT  - HE WAS A HUMBLE MAN. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., WAS A HUMAN BEING LIKE YOU AND I. MARTIN WAS ON A MISSION, AND HE HAD A VISION TO MASTER IN HIS SHORT LIFE. TODAY, THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY MARTIN’S WITH A MISSION, OR A VISION. TODAY, MY FRIENDS, ESPECIALLY MY YOUNG FRIENDS,  YOU HAVE A DEBT TO PAY.

MANY YEARS AGO, PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU, AND ME   -- PAID A HIGH PRICE FOR US TO HAVE THE FREEDOMS WE HAVE TODAY, AND THE LIBERTY THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED. IT SADDENS ME TO SEE THE MANY THINGS THAT YOU ARE DOING TO UNDO SO MUCH THAT FREDRICK DOUGLAS, HARRIET TUBMAN,  MARTIN, MALCOM X, JOHN KENNEDY, ROBERT KENNEDY,  BEFORE HIM DID TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR ALL OF US. THESE PEOPLE GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR US.

 TODAY, MY FRIENDS, WE HAVE MANY CANCERS AMONG US. IT’S UNLIKE LUNG CANCER, BREAST CANCER, PROSTRATE CANCER, OR ANY FORM OF CANCER KNOWN TO MEDICAL SCIENCE. THE CANCERS THAT MANY OF US HAVE IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, ARE MORE SERIOUS, AND DEADLIER THAN ANY MEDICINE CAN CURE. THESE CANCERS ARE DESTROYING THE LIVES OF SO MANY OF OUR LOVED ONES.

THERE IS THE CANCER OF DISCRIMINATION. RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, WE DON’T LIKE THE COLOR OF THE PERSON’S SKIN, WE DON’T LIKE THE WAY A PERSON LOOKS, WALKS, TALKS, OR ACTS. WE WANT TO DESTROY THAT PERSON.  WHY?  IS IT BECAUSE THAT PERSON IS DIFFERENT?  EVEN IF WE ARE OF THE SAME RACE, AREN’T WE IN SOME WAYS DIFFERENT?  ARE WE CLONED?  WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?  

THEN THERE IS THE CANCER OF JEALOUSY.  WE DON’T LIKE WHAT THE OTHER PERSON HAS, WE WANT TO HAVE MORE, OR BE BETTER THAN THAT PERSON.  WE WANT TO DESTROY THAT PERSON.  WHY?  IF RON HAS A GOLD CHAIN, I WANT ONE.  WELL, I MUST DO WHAT RON DID TO GET IT.  I MUST WORK, SAVE MY MONEY, AND BUY IT – NOT ROB HIM, OR KILL HIM TO GET IT.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH US? 

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SAID, AND I QUOTE “DON’T JUDGE ME BY THE COLOR OF MY SKIN, BUT JUDGE ME BY MY CHARACTER, AND DEEDS”.  HOW MANY OF US CAN TRULY STAND HERE TODAY, AND SAY THEY HAVE AN UNBLEMISHED CHARACTER, OR HAVE DONE A GOOD DEED THAT HAS HELPED SOMEONE LESS FORTUNATE THAN OURSELVES. 

TODAY, I STAND HERE TO TELL YOU WHAT YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR, BUT WHAT YOU NEED TO HEAR.  IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER WHY YOU CAME HERE TODAY.  MAYBE YOU CAME BECAUSE YOU HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO; MAYBE YOU CAME BECAUSE YOU TOO HAVE A DREAM, AND DON’T WANT IT CUT SHORT BY THAT DEADLY WEAPON – THE GUN.

 WHATEVER THE REASON - YOU ARE HERE, AND I BELIEVE WHEN YOU LEAVE, YOU WILL HAVE THE TOOLS TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.

L. Goldsmith
Founder/President
Mothers Against Guns, Inc. (since 1994)
(718) 276-5802