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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Remarks by Dr. Janet Ballantyne,
Acting Administrator, USAIDAt the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance
Dean Acheson Auditorium
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
January 17, 2002
Thank you for being with us today, as we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
When we think of Dr. King, we are always challenged to look for ways to incorporate the principles that he stood for into our daily lives. Particularly now, as our nation faces unprecedented challenges, we must look - as Dr. King would have - for good that can come out of evil and for strength that derives from adversity.
As we look for ways to rededicate our efforts to achieving what is best for America, we need to reach out more and more to each other, to strengthen the links that we have forged from our diversity.
135 years ago, in 1867, an amazing African-American woman, Sojourner Truth, a former slave, itinerant preacher and activist in the struggle for women's suffrage said the following:
Let individuals make the most of what God has given them, have their neighbors do the same, and then do all they can to serve each other. There is no use in one man or one nation to do or to be everything. It is a good thing to be dependent on each other for something. It makes us civil and peaceable.
In many ways the words of this woman, Sojourner Peace - a woman born as a slave who never learned to read or write -- was also the message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who believed in and dreamed of a nation united in purpose and resolve, a nation that would be a beacon of freedom for the world, a nation that would forever demonstrate to others the values of civility and peace and equality.
We will greatly honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today if we leave this moving ceremony with a resolve to remember his words - words of hope and of belief in a better nation and a better world. I would also ask that we remember Sojourner Truth's advice - let's remember to be more dependent upon each other. Let's see if she's right and this leads to more civility and more peace and give an example to the world. Wouldn't that be nice?
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Last Updated on: January 02, 2009 |
