I'm proud to say that I had a minor role in that, and that I was a chief sponsor and the main fighter for that legislation which was passed back in 1973.
Since that time, 16 other states have shown up, making their states also states which gave recognition to his birthday.
And also since that time, last year, the federal congress passed for the first time, a holiday in memory of a great American, a holiday in memory of a black American.
Political figures from all over the world, good people who are concerned about the brotherhood of man and how we can brand and keep our nation, state, and city together.
I appreciate your being here.
I wish you could participate in all of the festivities that you're going on.
But above all, it's not a day for celebration, but a day of recognition, a day of reflection, a day of saying to ourselves that through this great plan, some 16 years ago, strive, a giant of a person, a record - Pleasure to introduce the governor of Illinois, Governor Jim Johnson.
Applause Oh, so we have just two questions to ask.
The first question is, do you want more bottles? The Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the births of Washington and Lincoln.
That's incredible company.
Martin Luther King was an incredible man.
Martin Luther King's birthday will not be a black holiday, but rather the holiday of a black man whose life and existence and teachings and preachings ought to inspire all Americans.
Applause It's an extraordinary tribute to him and to his family and to his friends and to those who stood with him.
To those who stood with him in the pulpit protesting that which was wrong with American society while celebrating that which was right, having a nation.
Only when our people, all of them, practice in their individual lives those things for which Martin Luther King was born and worked and lived and died, only when we make him come alive and through our deeds as well as our words, do we truly honor him.
Applause Perhaps this day -long celebration will help us remember when we wake up tomorrow and his birthday is past, that all Americans have the right by virtue of their birth and their citizenship in this country to a life in which hunger and poverty and ignorance and hate and prejudice play no part and have the right to a life that is equal.
Applause And so too, he also saw a connection and we're connected at this moment with him.
He saw a connection between the man of spirit and the nearness of people of every denomination, of every color, of every society all over the world and the recognition of the spirit jewel is the Jewish Tantari.
They say, they feel is identical, that appeal toward a better human being and a better word and so we have, lucky to have, I think, a cantor, Shlomo.
Applause Music Applause Applause Music A face black to a treble white is significant on God's people.
Call me a drum major for peace.
Call me a drum major you may for justice.
Call me a drum major for Silence Music And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free.
Music Music Music Let's hear ya Music A little bit louder Music What's next Ella? Music After our time is gone.
Well we thought I'd right now sing a song of the South African people.
Some of you know this song and you can help us out on it.
It has a bass part to it.
It doesn't have many words but if you get that one word it means the lion.
The lion is sleeping and it's an old story down there because their last king was called Chaka the lion.
He was killed and the Europeans took over but the legend said Chaka is not dead.
He's only sleeping and will wake up someday.
That's what this song says.
The lion is sleeping.
It's a song of hope.
I need some basses who can sing down here.
Music Applause Music Music Applause Over one thousand people today have been demonstrating in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening outside the consulate of the racist apartheid South African regime here on Michigan Avenue.
Applause This evening eight people were arrested.
They are present in prison.
They will spend the night in prison.
They will appear at nine o 'clock tomorrow morning at the District 18 police center near here at 113 Chicago Avenue.
I would like to end by reading their names and asking you to salute them.
They are Buzz Palmer.
Applause Applause The struggle continues.
Martin's dedication lives on in the struggle before us.
Thank you.
Applause Applause My own peculiarities.
That is that I have this fetish about being on time.
I am usually a half an hour early because I'm afraid to be one minute late.
Applause Washington.
Applause I would suggest to you that the seeds that were planted with Al Raby went and helped write the Constitution for the state of Illinois in 1970.
Applause Go home to my Lord and be free.
When I think of Dr.
King, I probably think a little different from a lot of people because I started with Dr.
King at a very young age.
I first met Dr.
King in Montgomery.
He was in the Montgomery bus boycott.
But I want to talk about something different.
I want to talk about Selma because I think Selma changed the whole course of history in this country.
When I think of Dr.
King, I think of Al Luta, a Detroit housewife who was assassinated in Selma, Alabama.
When I think of Dr.
King, I think of Reverend Reed who was killed in Selma, Alabama.
When I think of Dr.
King, I think of Jimmie Jackson who was killed in Alabama standing up in front of his mother.
When I think of Dr.
King, I think of Edwin Pettis -Greer.
Selma.
We're here to celebrate life, not death.
The celebration of life.
That's because Dr.
King lived.
Dr.
King lived through you, through you, through you, through me, through you.
We have to remember and understand what our role is.
This celebration will be over in another hour and we'll all go back home.
We'll all say we went to the celebration and we saw Mayor Washington.
We heard Stevie Wonder.
We had a good time.
Because Mayor Washington, we really had a good time.
But we must go back home and rededicate ourselves to the principle of nonviolence.
We have a responsibility and obligation so that Dr.
King's dream can live.
We must go back home and say to ourselves that our neighbor won't be hungry anymore.
We must hold our heads up.
We can't result in violence.
We have to have nonviolence.
Dr.
King's book, he wrote, Chaos of Community.
I think we have to go back to community.
If not, we're going to die in chaos.
Thank you so much.
Dr.
King met our Saint Ed leader in Atlanta, Georgia.
And see you as a part of the shattered dream and a part of the scattered peace.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I feel compelled almost by an irresistible impulse to quote some memorable words from Dr.
King which shall forever ring in our ears and inspire our souls.
Angels are made.
Saints are made.
I extend the deepest gratitude to all of the fine Chicagoans whose talents and energies have combined to make this occasion its success.
My thanks to the vivacious and talented Sasha Dalton, coordinator of the King Observance.
To Lois Weisberg and the staff of Special Events Office.
To the many neighborhoods and civic organizations who have helped inspire and produce this historic citywide commemoration.
To the many fine corporate sponsors whose financial assistance we greatly appreciate.
And a very special thanks to you in the audience for your concern and participation.
We have this evening, sharing this experience, a very, very special guest.
He's a young man.
He's a good man.
He tries in the tremendous footprint of his saintly father.
We know he will do it well.
He comports himself with excellence.
Already in his tender age, he is a role model for young boys, particularly young black boys.
It is my privilege to present to you Dexter King, a son of a great man whose birth we honor today.
Dexter King.
Applause Applause Our city of Chicago had a very wonderful poetry contest.
Applause Applause Applause Applause Applause The proper to assist me, she has many of the speeches that we have done.
Who is a native? The song was a little bit like this.
Applause On your my gentle by a black man, John that is the sub.
In 1772, which is still plagued with problems of race relations and social harmony.
He was started by a black man.
But you have evolved into many cultures and yet you have not evolved into one city.
You've inspired a man who has walked this nation holding a rainbow coalition.
But there is no rainbow here.
Applause My agenda, I must live up to the promise that I made to the young people this afternoon.
I challenged the gang members and their leaders to create a group among themselves.
To find positive things to do in their communities.
Applause If they organize such a group that is responsive to justice sure as we celebrate this day.
You must challenge them.
On my agenda, I must reach out to you for inspiration that will help me to create more songs that will speak of a people who once were lost.
Lost in the confusion of this harmony but who grew into one of Dr.
King's perfect symphonies of brotherhood.
The Chicago Symphony of many instruments but one beautiful melody.
Now, neither one of our agendas is easily obtainable.
But if you are...
