Jimmy Carter Re: MLK: "He helped us overcome our ignorance of one another."

[kpete]

Jimmy Carter gave MLK, Jr. the Presidential Medal of Freedom (back before Dubya defiled it with his selections for that same honor). On that occasion, here’s what Carter said:

Martin Luther King, Jr., was the conscience of his generation. A southerner, a black man, he gazed on the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down.

From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to free all people from the bondage of separation and injustice, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream of what America could be.

He helped us overcome our ignorance of one another. He spoke out against a war he felt was unjust, as he had spoken out against laws that were unfair.

He made our nation stronger because he made it better. Honored by kings, he continued to his last days to strive for a world where the poorest and humblest among us could enjoy the fulfillment of the promises of our founding fathers.

His life informed us, his dreams sustain us yet.

more at:
http://firedoglake.com/2007/01/14/give-it-up/

[Island Blue]

1. K & R.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jimmy Carter. Two great Americans. Thanks for posting.

[demigoddess]

2. the thing I loved about MLK was that he showed that great change can happen

in a democracy through peaceful, nonviolent resistance. That is what he taught and we have forgotten. Bush would be out of office now if we had his commitment.

[bonito]

3. K&R

[roguevalley]

4. I wish he was still with us. What a conscience of our country and this

world he was and could continue to be.

[2 Much Tribulation]

5. Simple but profound: Getting to Know each Other Better. Can we Know Someone TOO well? prob not K&R