On Tuesday, I was able to be part of History. I proudly cast a vote for Barack Obama as President of the United States of America. I cast that vote, not just because I believe in him and what he can do for America, but for what he represents: An America that can Grow!
After casting my vote I went to 17th Street and Broadway in Indianapolis to visit a remarkable site that honors my greatest hero, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
On, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Kennedy broke the news of King's death to a large gathering of African Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana that evening. The gathering, which was actually a planned as campaign rally in his bid to get the 1968 Democratic nomination for President took a dramatic turn. Just after he arrived by plane at Indianapolis, Kennedy was told of King's death. He was advised by police and the Mayor of Indianapolis (Indiana Senator, Richard Lugar)at that time against making the campaign stop which was in a part of the city considered to be a dangerous ghetto. However, Kennedy insisted on going.
Upon his arrival the crowd was in an upbeat mood, anticipating the excitement of a Kennedy appearance. However, he was about to change their lives for ever. He climbed onto the platform, broke the news of King's death.
Here is what he said:
Ladies and Gentlemen - I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening. Because...
I have some very sad news for all of you, and I think sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.
For those of you who are black - considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible - you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization - black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, yeah that's true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past. And we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.
Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.
Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very muchSo after my vote, I went to the site of this speech and took pictures of the statue that now sites on that site.
I can't help but think about what these two amazing individuals were not able to witness on Tuesday. It is amazing that we have been able to come so far in this great country. I have never felt prouder to be an American than I am at this time.
While the actions this nation took on Tuesday night are great, we cannot become blind to others. While we have elected an African American to the highest office, there are plenty of others who are still being discriminated against. We are human beings and we need to treat everyone with the same dignity and respect we would want to be treated with. I have started to think it is possible for me to live in a country where I can be proud of who I am and share who I am.
So here is to four wonderful years and hopefully more to come,
Love,
Anthony
P.S.Senator Kennedy was campaigning in Indiana in 1968, the last year, until this year that Indiana ever voted for a Democrat.
Secondly, this last shot is something I found truly amazing. Just less than 20 steps away from the statue was a polling place. I wish they could have seen it!
