In the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
As we confront hateful words and actions in this generation, good people must not be silent. We must all follow Dr. King’s example and speak out and take action in pursuit of justice. In that pursuit, Dr. King understood that we cannot pick and choose—we must fight for racial justice and economic justice, for freedom from discrimination and opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
Dr. King observed on April 3, 1968, “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead.” Indeed we do. But that night Dr. King remained confident that “we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
With all of us speaking out and working together, we will build the beloved community that Dr. King sought, and we will get to the promised land. I look forward to getting there with you.
