I was honored to be asked to say a few words at an interfaith ceremony in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day at Hartford’s historic Faith Congregational Church. Here are some excerpts of my remarks:
“Martin Luther King Day is a day to remember the past, but it’s also a day to rededicate ourselves to justice, and fairness, and maybe most importantly the principle that each of us has a personal obligation to do what we can, to recognize wrongs where we see them, and to try to change them. …
“One of the most significant fronts in the fight for justice today, an issue that Martin Luther King, if he were alive today, would be speaking about [is creating a society that offers ex-offenders a Second Chance]. … When we find a way to give people a Second Chance, our community will be stronger, and better, and more just for it.
“This afternoon, we sang, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ with that line, in the second verse, ‘Have not our weary feet come to the place for which our fathers sighed?’ We’ve come very far. … In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King said that we’ve come a long way, but we still have a long, long way to go. And he would say the same thing today, 50 years on. So let us honor the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King by continuing to prove our power to change. And how long will it take before we achieve that change? Dr. King asked, ‘How long?’ Well, that depends on us.”