Dean in Missouri for MLK day..."we have no right to be discouraged." Video

[madfloridian]

"We have no right to be discouraged. Dr. King went to jail. He and his people were beaten. Dogs attacked them. People in his own community said Martin you are going too fast. People stood up and followed him."

"We are all in this together, Dr. King", he said.

Jewish friends, muslim friends all there in the church.

It was a conference of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/01/celebrating_the.php
From Tim at the blog:

The audience was packed, there were several overflow rooms set up inside the church where members of the congregation sat and watched on closed-circuit televisions. The service itself was a combination of inspirational music, speeches by clergy and politicians (Democrats and Republicans alike), and a 45 minute sermon built around the theme of "unity in the community." Governor Dean spoke about how it might be discouraging at times today, but we have no right to get down, only the right to keep fighting--Dr. King spent many days in jail, African-Americans were attacked by dogs and firehoses, people in his own community said he was moving to fast, but he never gave up.

[Arugula Latte]

1. Once again, the good doctor is correct.

I need to remember this sentiment myself.

They changed South Africa, we should be able to turn this country around. Eventually.

[madfloridian]

2. Sounds like a real diverse experience.

Tim seemed to be very impressed.

"For me, the music was undoubtedly the highlight of the evening -- and the different types of music played and sung were as diverse as the audience itself. From a children's choir, the SCLC Community Choir, a Korean church choir, a young man wowing the audience on his saxophone, and the former leader of the St. Stephen's Baptist Choir taking us back before "all this electronic music" started playing in the church, with some old spiritual-type songs made famous during the civil rights movement.

I am back at the hotel now after not knowing what to expect when I took off this morning for Kansas City. And although we don't see it all the time from our elected officials in Washington, D.C., what I saw tonight gives me hope that Dr. King's dream lives on, and there are a tremendous amount of people of all colors and creeds working to see that dream become a reality."

[pat_k]

3. Hear, Hear!! -- Must reject prouncement that we "Can't Win, So Don't Try"

As usual, Howard hits a core truth.

Like an addiction, hopelessness, discouragement, and pronoucements that the things worth fighting for "Can"t happen, so don’t bother" are terrible habits that reinforce themselves. People don't fight for something because "it's futile." The something never happens because people aren't fighting, "proving" the futility.

We like to think of ourselves as reasonable people, but it is not reasonable to guarantee failure with the notion that "can't be done, so don't try." That only makes sense if you believe in your own omniscience.

It is time to be truly reasonable, recognize that anything is possible, and act. Some call it confidence; some call it faith. The label doesn't matter if we understand how powerful it is to act from the knowledge that anything is possible.

As Howard points out, we can draw the strength we need from our heros past and present -- not just leaders like Martin Luther King, but the oridinary people like ourselves who drive change.

As we celebrate our heros, we need to remind ourselves that leaders are created as ordinary people act, and in the process, discover talents they didn't know they had, and insill hope that prompts others to join them.

[madfloridian]

4. Very nice video of other segments of the service, Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13641403.htm

[NoPasaran]

5. We have no right to be discouraged.

As true in real life as it is on DU!