{"id":6148,"date":"2011-10-17T00:01:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T07:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/17\/obama-keynotes-mlk-monument-dedication\/"},"modified":"2011-10-17T00:01:54","modified_gmt":"2011-10-17T07:01:54","slug":"obama-keynotes-mlk-monument-dedication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/17\/obama-keynotes-mlk-monument-dedication\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama Keynotes MLK Monument Dedication"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"17mlk-monument\"My introduction to activism came not from the peace movement, but from the civil rights movement.  I felt so shamed by my father\u2019s overt racism that during my simmer vacation in 1963, at fifteen years of age, I headed south to Alabama for a month of protesting.  It was there that I first saw Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The people were very caring toward me, and more than once, prevented me from getting myself killed or maimed by police, dogs, fire hoses and angry racists.  I wasn\u2019t that brave, but stupid, thinking I was bullet proof, like so many kids of that age.  From there, I traveled to Washington, DC and was on the mall when King delivered his \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d  speech.  In April, 1967, I was at Riverside Church for King\u2019s \u201cBeyond Vietnam\u201d speech, and met with him afterward, because I was on the committee organizing Vietnam Summer.  I met with Dr. King half a dozen times, always in a group, and only spoke with him one-on-one on a couple brief occasions, but he had a profound influence on me.  He taught me to persevere, that worthwhile accomplishments take time.  He taught me that faith does not have to be ugly.  He taught me that non-violence is the only path to lasting reform.  No monument can do justice to this giant of a man.  Barack Obama gave the keynote speech.  Here it is followed by \u201cI have a Dream\u201d and \u201cBeyond Vietnam \u201d.<\/font><\/p>\n

Obama Keynote Speech:<\/font><\/p>\n