Free At Last

"In 1950's America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950's were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950's and the 1960's. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.

Thrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.

King's appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The following is the exact text of the spoken speech, transcribed from recordings.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.


It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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, 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.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Rock Crushers and Katrina Victims

In Students for International Development last week, the guest speaker was the former chief speechwriter and policy adviser to President George W. Bush. Despite my feelings for the former President, I was super impressed with the stories the man told and all the international development that George W. Bush orchestrated. (Most of any US President). One story he told, stood out to me in particular:

Michael Gerson (former chief speechwriter) was visiting in Uganda and decided to visit with some women workers. These women were employed to crush larger rocks with smaller rocks, 8-10 hours a day. These were poor, poor women, who work their tails off so that they and their families can survive. Well while Mr. Gerson was there, the Katrina disaster happened. The women ended up raising $1000 of their own money to help the hurricane victims and presented it to Mr. Gerson. It’s amazing that these impoverished women, were able and willing to raise that much money because they knew helping was the right thing to do. It was more than the Ugandan government gave altogether.

The story literally took my breath away. There is so much we can learn from these women's sacrifice and kindness. I know the economy is bad, times are rough, everyone is struggling... But who can you help today? Who's burden can you help lift? Whose tears can you wipe? Follow the Ugandan women's example, don't hold back, be kind.

Life.

"The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give." ~ William Arthur Ward

improvement.

I feel like there is a storm coming and I can feel it approaching in my soul. And all I can do is:

Run farther.
Eat better.
Pray longer.
Study harder.
Love more.



But I don't really feel prepared, I just feel panicked.

"Long as I remember
the rain been comin' down.
Clouds of myst'ry pouring
confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages,
try'n' to find the sun,
and I wonder, still I wonder,
who'll stop the rain."

What is Leadership To You ?

"Leadership is the organization of efforts into a common purpose. It is aligning the steps to a goal and taking those steps."

Tommy Montoya- Leadership Education Director, Grad Student.



"Leadership is the consistent allegiance to personal conviction."

Sterling May- Executive VP BYUSA, Returned Missionary












"It is Respect. Kindess. Service. It is to learn and grow."

Kari-Elle Thalman, Vice President: Student Honor BYUSA, Youngster.





"Leadership is being trusted with a set of responsibilities and fulfilling those responsibilities to the fullest."

Cici Nye, Executive Director BYUSA Communications, Beyonce look-a-like.



"Leadership is trying your best to exemplify Christ."

Rachel Schwartz, Executive Director BYUSA Clubs, Great Dancer



"Leadership is inspiring a vision and charting the course."

Chris Peterson, BYUSA President, Recently Married.


















"Leadership is knowing what makes YOU a leader and being the best at. Knowing your purpose and changing the world from it."

Macy Halladay, Student Director Leadership Seminar Class, classy lady




WHAT IS LEADERSHIP TO YOU!?

Eye of Faith

Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again. Yet with the "eye of faith," they still see divine pattern and purpose."
--Neal A. Maxwell

I still remained to be shocked every time something doesn't work out how I imagined. But the Lord knows me, if there is a lesson from my mission that I reflect on EVERYDAY, it's that He knows me. He does, and I must continue on that faith even when my image of life becomes as confusing as the glass of a kaleidoscope. However, as inconsistent as the images may be they are ALWAYS beautiful.








"Keep my commandments; hold your peace; appeal unto my Spirit;"
D&C 11:18

I Only Fealt Peace

After a surprise visit from an old friend and mentor today (not to mention an inspiration for this blog), i decided it is time another post is in order.

On Sunday I went to the homecoming talk of my returning Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Hemingway. I not only got to hear their wise voices once again and feel of their unconditional love, but i was surrounded by the largest amount of mission family I have ever experienced to date. Old companions, old friends, old Senior couples in age and the fact that i haven't seen them in a while, old NYRM missionaries that i never met but heard countless stories of and old feelings of love, strength, hard work, exhaustion and success. All of these things could have made my sensitive heart ache (like it has been for the last 6 months), missing that wonderful Western New York Experience. But I only felt peace. Peace knowing I experienced what i needed and now it was time to live my life, be grateful for the blessings i have been given, and continue to rely on the Lord. And MAN did it take a long time but I finally feel it! Longer than most returned missionaries i think. But it is here, and I am learning. And that is all that matters...

But man what a journey it has been...
Here are pictures of all the homecoming's i have been to since I have been home:

Park Coming Home and reuniting with us in St. George




Burnett and Adamson coming home
... and sure Becky and Kim coming to Utah.
... and sure Hunt looking less vampireish




The lovely Dennison homecoming. Best Talks. Best Food.




The Emotional return of Hawker








My Lovely Shakespeare, down in St. George





Peace brought back to my soul, Clark returns!



Don't forget my boys...

Mickelson



Krause
(Still wears his suit)


And of course the Hemingway Reunion!



For all those that stuck by me, thank you. For all those that got frustrated with me, my apologies, and for all those who are ready for some more incredible times.... Bring it on Baby!!!