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John, Today is a special day set aside to give recognition to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — and truthfully, this is a particularly important year to reflect on Dr. King’s movement and legacy. These are perilous times. The most powerful people in the land are willing to go to unprecedented lengths to maintain their grip on power, and to cover up their crimes when they get caught. But even in our darkest moments, Dr. King reminded us that the dawn will come. That doesn’t mean we can be complacent, John. Unlike the dawn, the change won’t come on its own. In Dr. King’s final speech, he discussed the story of the Good Samaritan. So it goes, a traveler gets robbed and left injured on the side of the road, and countless people then pass by without lending a hand. Dr. King considers all the reasons that those people may have had for walking past, all the logical reasons they may have had not to act, summarizing those explanations in the fearful question: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" Dr. King then explains: “But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question. ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’" To live up to Dr. King’s legacy, we must look at our country’s challenges through this lens he presented in his last speech. We must complete the census. We must register voters. We must do service work in our communities. We must stay engaged in the political process even when it is stressful and frustrating. Why? Because if we do not, what will happen to our country? So I encourage all of you to stay hopeful, optimistic, and engaged. And step-by-step we will continue to bend the arc of this nation closer to the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. shared with all of us. Yours, Hank P.S. You can watch my full remarks at Ebenezer Baptist Church here.
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