A Testament of Hope
Though I never met him in person, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King has been my mentor for forty years, ever since I picked up a copy of A Testament of Hope, his essential sermons, essays, and speeches. Every time I open its pages, I find wisdom. In honor of Black History Month, let’s look at his famous phrase, “ …Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God…..the time is always ripe to do right.”
Despite the best efforts of agencies like ours, people like us, and movements across time, the human species has not yet ended racism. It is still the bitter baking soda baked into the bread; we seem unable to extract it from our society.
Dr. King exhorts us to keep up the good work, like those who courageously join the Community-Police Dialogues, stepping into spaces that push our understanding of each other’s points of view, to learn about our nation’s history of racism, and to dedicate our lives to its eradication.
Dr. King calls us to persistence, a recognition that we didn’t get into this mess overnight, and we won’t get out of it overnight, but that we may not stop. The roots of racism are very deep so it will take many of us working through many years and many avenues to uproot it. Racism’s ties to poverty cannot be denied, so we must work on this front as well, making sure our kids get a good education and enough to eat and a loving shelter over their heads because they are human.
We learn from our African ancestors of the term Ubuntu – the idea that I can only be human in the company of other humans, and I can never be fully who I am meant to be until you are what you are meant to be. No matter the color of our skin, our country of origin, our language and culture, we are all equal as humans. This is essential to the values of being American, and it is worth continuing to work for and fight for. It’s not inevitable. It’s work, and we will not rest until it’s done.
Beth A. Broadway
President & CEO
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