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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks of Ambassador Harriet Babbitt, USAID Deputy Administrator
to the Joint African American History Month Observance
February 2, 1999
Dean Acheson Auditorium
Thank you, Vivian. Vivian Lowery Derryck is herself an impressive example of the "African American Legacy of Leadership." Learning well from her remarkable mother and grandmother, she has served in significant leadership positions in both the private and public sectors, including as a Deputy Secretary of State in both the Carter and Reagan administrations, under four Secretaries of State. She is building a legacy of her own over a career that has helped to strengthen senior African leadership and promote democratic development during a critical period in African history.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome all of you to this interagency observance as we begin African American History Month. Our theme today, "The Legacy of African American Leadership for the Present and the Future," reminds us that the foundation for leadership in the 21st century from the African American community has been well established. We welcomed a notable example of that legacy -- Martin Luther King III -- to the King birthday observance last month. It is a pleasure to welcome another prime example of that lineage of leadership as our keynote speaker this morning, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
The sons and daughters who are carrying on that tradition are not the only ones who have benefited from the example, sacrifices and achievements of African American leaders.
As Congressman Jackson’s father reminded everyone at a similar gathering in this auditorium several years ago, African American history is an integral part of America’s history. Although our history books have for too long ignored too much, African Americans were part of America’s history before the first Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock. We are all the beneficiaries of their long struggle toward freedom, equal rights and equal opportunity. The lives of and words of individuals such as Phyllis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Dorothy Height and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are part of the search for political and social equality for all Americans. They are part of the struggle for human rights around the world.
Our nation has been shaped by the unique and compelling history of African Americans. The struggle against slavery and discrimination has long been the yardstick by which the world – and we ourselves – have judged our national progress and commitment to our own highest ideals. African American History Month provides a challenge to our young people, not just to celebrate the profound accomplishments of yesterday, but to build on them.
USAID’s mission is to help people throughout the world of all races, colors, ethnic, religious and national origins to develop their capacity to improve their own lives, their own communities and their own countries. Our success has always depended on the talents, skills, energy and determination of these diverse peoples.
Our agency draws strength from the diversity of our own people who carry out our mission.
That is equally true of our nation.
I look to the approaching new century with high hopes. I believe especially in the capacity of the young to create a future free of bigotry and discrimination in which their only limitation is their own vision, commitment and hard work.
As we share this program this morning, let us all draw strength from the progress it portrays -- and the promise it portends for the future of all Americans -- and peoples all over the world.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 12, 2001 |
