Hardie
Blake, Jr.
Keynote
Speaker, MLK Jr. Celebration
Monday,
January 18, 2010
Century
Center, South Bend, Indiana
My
sister, Gladys, said I have only 20 minutes to speak, so I'm going to
take 20 minutes to do my introduction, and 20 minutes to speak, and 20
minutes to close. That's how preachers interpret 20 minutes.
No,
I understand that there is a lot more on this morning's program, so I
will try to be good. Not short; just good.
I
thank God, and give honor to God first. When I say I honor
God, I
am not saying it for sheer formality. I give honor to Jesus,
because He is my Lord and Savior; honor to my parents, the most giving
people I know; to my wife, Perl, who is the love of my life.
I thank the Martin
Luther King,
Jr. Foundation of St. Joseph County and the South Bend Heritage
Foundation for the privilege and honor of speaking to this tremendously
powerful assembly of leaders, men, women, children, fathers, mothers,
brothers and sisters. May God bless each one of you
individually,
and all of you collectively. The word of God says, "Give
honor to
all men, women, and children," and, having done that, I want to give
special thanks to my sister, Gladys Mohammad. She is a great
sister, a tremendous woman, and one of hardest working people I know.
I also want to give
special thanks
to the Mayor of Mishawaka, Bob Buetter (smile); no...? Jeff
Rea... I had to get you Jeff, for not calling me back. I give
special thanks to Phil Newbold, Reg Wagle, and Margo DeMont of Memorial
Hospital, because not only did they sponsor eight tables for Project
Impact and Men of Scars, but along with Charlie Asher and Abe Marcus,
they invested in Men of Scars and Daughters of Destiny from the very
beginning as a startup. I would also like to give special
thanks
to Pat McMahon of Project Future, because with creativity and
innovation, he is doing from the TOP what I would like to do with
creativity and innovation from the BOTTOM. He is leading
Project
FUTURE. I am leading Project NOW. BECAUSE THE DREAM
IS
NOW. If we as a nation are going to live up to its
possibilities
of "One Nation, Under God, With Liberty and Justice for All", NOW is
the time to begin to do it.
Also
I give special thanks to the Mayor of the City of South Bend, Steve
Luecke, to Jeff Gibney, Executive Director of Economic Development, to
the Redevelopment Commissioners, and ALL the people of the City of
South Bend, Indiana for funding Project Impact-South Bend's Job
Readiness Training Program. In PISB Job Readiness
Training
Program, we teach the participants to become BEETs - Best Employee Ever
Trained; to develop a mindset of being the BEST, on whatever job they
are hired to do.
We started with 150
registered participants. 120 of those entered our one week
boot camp. Of those,
-
82 finished the
boot camp and entered the 10 week training course.
-
67 successfully
graduated
-
53 of the
graduates had felonies (both before and after they enter the program)
smile
-
39 Reside in
the UEZ or AEDA
-
9 Companies
from UEZ or AEDA
-
49 worked temp
or full time in 2009
-
25 full time
placements
-
24 temporary
assignments
-
14 currently
working full time
-
2 received
promotions
-
6 in school
-
6 in jail
-
2 dead
-
52 are ready to
be placed with no positions available (includes those needing better
jobs)
-
243 currently
on the waiting list to enter our next training sessions
This
funding has helped Project Impact and Men of Scars make their dreams
come true NOW, although it may also lead to the very same type of
sacrifices MLK had to make to fulfill his dream. The die has
been
cast, the faith is sure and the commitment has been made by more than
my wife, Perl, and I. It has also been made by some
exceptional
men and women such as James Summers, Ray Turner, Dave Laakso, Linda
Hopkins, Shane Peters, Yasmeen Peters, Dorothy Harris, Fred Blake,
Steve Kennedy, Michael Poole, Javier Aguilar, Darrell Shannon, Perry
Watson, Angie Jackson, Jane Miller, Joe Tillman, and Sister Judy
Elifritz, along with many others, including all the
participants
in Project Impact. With the exception of the names Perry
Watson
and James Summers, most of you have never heard of the people I just
named, because they are just ordinary people to you, but they are
special to me.
When
I think of some of the people who have previously been keynote speakers
at this breakfast, I am humbled and honored to stand before
you.
If we were to consider credentials, degrees and honorariums, I really
do not consider myself worthy to stand here before you, but when we
consider Christ, crime, compassion and care for our city and community,
especially the community in the ‘the hood,' I qualify. And,
when
it comes to celebrating the life and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., I feel it; and I hope that we all can begin to feel the dream even
more NOW. Now that we have an African American as president
of
the United States of America.
That is the end of my
Introduction: The first 20 minutes.
Now
the sermon - 2 minutes: 3 words. I LOVE YOU. If
that is
true, and if I do it, and if I can get you to do it, we will properly
solve the problems of not only our families, our communities, cities,
states, and nation, but even the WORLD. The greatest of all
the
Commandments is ‘Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and
strength.' 2nd is ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself,' and 3rd ‘Love your
enemy.'
Five
of the most effective tools we have available for Project Impact's
training programs are: Love, Time, Relationship Training,
Stipends, and, a Job. I believe, if these are implemented
effectively, we can eliminate most of the poverty, drug abuse, violence
and crime in our community. We can truly be repairers of the
breach and restorers of the streets. We believe in personal
responsibility for everyone who is mentally and emotionally capable,
but situations and silly systems also bear responsibility when they
cause people to live in survival mode. If I put my hand over
your
nose and mouth and cut off your supply of oxygen for 3 or 4 minutes,
the most important thing in the world will become oxygen, and you will
get it any way you can. It is not an excuse, or even justification for
violence or destructive action, but, when necessary,
whatever.
Economic and spiritual transformation is a major part of Project
Impact's vision, mission, and goal.
Levels
of sensitivity are important if communication is going to work -
Win/Win solutions. Is what should be the goal. We
commemorate MLK's death not because he died, but because of the way he
died. We celebrate MLK's life not because he lived but
because of
the way he lived.
Conversation
on Race, The tremendous cost of racism to America is
unbelievable. The education gap cost and economic gap
cost.
Harry Reid's and Bill Clinton's comments about race are typical, and
are not processed with the intent of resolving anything, but only with
side-stepping and a ‘sweeping under the rug'
mentality.
Conversations on race will not solve the problems in America because
race is not the problem. Deeds of the Flesh are the problem,
and
Fruit of the Spirit is the answer.
Trent Lott, Harry
Reid, Bill Clinton, Michael Steele, Barack Obama, the Media, and
Conversations on Race. Everyone is saying that America needs
to have a serious conversation on race.
My
question is: "Why?" Why should we have a conversation on
race? Race is not the problem. What we should have
is a
conversation on is the real problems. Love and
Hate. Need
and Greed. The real problems are Love and Hate, Need and
Greed! There are enough resources in America to feed the
hungry,
to clothe the naked, to eliminate poverty, to heal the sick.
I have a question for
the men here today; just raise your hand if the answer is
‘Yes.'
The woman and the
feet washing.
Although
I plan to talk about MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, I want to read
something from his "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech.
MLK
said, in his "I've been to Mountain Top speech," "I can
remember;
I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said,
so often, scratching where they didn't itch, and laughing when they
were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business
now,
and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's
world."
He also said, "...let us keep the issues where they are: the
issue is injustice."
MLK said, "I still
have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a
dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be
self-evident:
that all men are created equal."
A dream can be just
that and that alone. A dream only!
But a dream can also
be a recollection or remembrance of the past, if it is good it can
bring joy, if it bad is can be a nightmare or even a daymare (if you
are day dreaming).
A dream can be a
vision of the future, a vision of hope.
A dream can be a
vision of faith - the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of
thing not seen with the natural eye, but seen in the mind, heart, soul
and spirit.
A
dream can be a vision in which you have so much confidence and faith
that you are willing to give everything you have for it, even your own
life.
Martin Luther King,
Jr. had that kind of dream and he gave his life for it.
If
The Dream is now it is still a dream. Hope that is seen is no
longer hope, for why does one hope for what he sees come to
pass.
Barack Obama is President NOW. It is not a dream any more for
me. It is now, a dream that came true. And it makes me wanta
Holla.
To
many of us, a gigantic part of the dream is NOW. It is the
reality of Barack Obama being the President of the United States of
America. Yet, I know that some Americans think that that
dream is
a nightmare for them. Not only because of his politics and
ideology, but also because of the color of his skin. King
said,
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by
the content of their character." I know that King
assumed
that to be judged by the content of your character is better than being
judged by the color of your skin. But, neither the color of
your
skin nor the content of your character will make a difference, if the
content of the character of the one doing the judging is
flawed.
If the judge has a log in his own eye how can he see clearly to remove
the spec from his brother's eye?
One
would expect a priest and the Levite to have superior content of
character, but MLK tells the story a little different than the
Bible. The man who had been left for dead on the Jericho road
thought he was going to be rescued by those who had content of
character by way of position. Instead, he was left for dead
by
both. They were probably concerned what would happen to them
if
they stopped to help. Then, along came the Samaritan
Ghettoite,
believed to have no content of character, who was not concerned about
himself, but about the traveler...
The Dream is NOW
could mean - the dream is real or has become a reality and is no longer
just a dream;
It could mean the
Dream is being fulfilled NOW;
It could mean NOW is
the time to fulfill the dream;
It could mean the
dream has been fulfilled NOW;
There
are at least two important realities that have a major influence on how
we will perceive the dream as being now or later, now or
never.
Whether we will see the dream as past, present, or future may depend on
whether:
We are a part of The
Needy or
We are a part of The
Greedy
The real issue is
about NOW. Let us keep the issues where they are. The issue
is injustice
Because
my time is so limited, I am going to say just a few more things that I
cannot elaborate on, not because I can't or don't want to elaborate,
but because of the limitation on time this morning. So when,
not
if, I say something that bothers you so much you just have to say
something (like the Representative did to Obama during his State of the
Union address), go ahead and just shout it out. I don't mind
as
long as it is decent and polite. In the black church it's
proper
to say Amen or Aman, or just say "Well!" if you are not in total
agreement with what the preacher is saying.
Steven Covey might
call Martin Luther King Jr., a compass, meaning,
"To
value oneself and, at the same, subordinate oneself to higher purposes
and principles is the paradoxical essence of highest humanity, and is
the foundation of effective leadership." Covey, in his
Principle
Centered Leadership book says "Correct principles are like
compasses: they are always pointing the way."
A
compass will always point the TRUE RIGHT WAY, unless it is
broken. A properly functioning compass will always point out
the
right direction regardless of your thinking, feelings, or your
actions.
I
want to be proactive and begin with the end in mind, and put first
things first, seek first to understand then to be understood.
I
always want a win/win solution. How many
of you have
read, or gone to a seminar, or taken a class on Steven Covey's 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People?
Most successful, and
many smart
people agree with most of what Steven Covey teaches and says in his
book on the 7 Habits, as well as his book on Principle Centered
Leadership. I probably agree with 95% or more of
it. I
teach it to some of the most non-principled, un-centered knuckle-heads
in the City of South Bend. Some sitting right there (point)
and
they, even, agree with it. They don't do it, but they agree
that
Covey is straight up, on the mark, cool, got it right.
I even believe
that Martin Luther King Jr., would have found little fault with Covey's
Principle Centered Leadership. Martin Luther King
Jr. even
talked about Principle Centered Leadership in his "I Have a Dream
Speech," when he said,
"I
still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and
live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be
self-evident: that all men are created equal. I have a dream
that
my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their
character."
I have a dream today.
I
dream of the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a
new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I
sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from
every mountainside, let freedom ring". And if America is to
be a
great nation this must become true.
Jesus said, and you
have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,
but I say to you, love your enemy. Love is the only lasting
way to end conflict and wars.
War in self (Love thy
neighbor as thyself)
War in family
War in the hood and
the neighborhood
War in community and
the city
War in the state and
the nation
War in religion, the
church, the synagogue, mosque, temple and the streets
War in politics,
philosophy, psychology, theology and sociology
War between the races
and sexes, the rich and the poor, the needy and greedy
Love is the only
lasting way to end wars.
The Dream is NOW.
Now is a measure, or
an element of time: The dentition of Now is Now
Now is not a year
from - Now
Now is not a month
from - Now
Now is not a week or
a day from - Now
Now is not an hour or
even a minute from - Now
Barack
Obama is President of the United States of America -NOW! This
part of MLK's dream is true NOW! TODAY; and with God's favor,
this part of the dream will still be true tomorrow and at least for the
next 3 years.
Martin Luther King
Jr., "I have a dream" speech
August 28, 1963 -
Washington, D.C.
We have also come to
this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of
now.
This
is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the
tranquilizing drug of gradualism. When MLK was asked by an NBC reporter
in Montgomery Alabama, if he believed in gradualism when it came to
integration, MLK said gradualism is an excuse for
excape-ism, and excape-ism is an excuse for Do-nothingism and
Do-nothingism is an excuse for Stand-Stillism. He said, "No I
do
not believe in gradualism when it comes to justice, righteousness and
wrongness." In other words: Do what is
right. Right
NOW.
Spiritually,
you can never be right haten on people. You can not be a
hater of
any people and truly love God at the same time. Jesus said,
"If
you hate your brother you are a murderer."
I say, not
King, but I say if the dream is now, then stop haten on people. (excuse
my ebonics - I say haten instead of hating because it just don't work
for me) Stop haten on people. It don't matter whether we are
Jews
or gentiles, protestant or catholic, Christian or Muslim, male or
female, gay or straight, rich or poor, incarcerated or free, black or
white, - haten ain't right. And - stop haten on MY president.
If
the dream is now, then we need Notre Dame, the Chamber of Commerce,
Project Future, big time corporate developers and the City of South
Bend to establish a different kind of Technology, Innovation and
Ignition Park to research and eliminate poverty, and to invest 100
Million dollars in super smart people to create and innovate economic
development in the inner city that actually creates wealth for the
people in the inner city community. If the dream is now, then
do
this now
Now is the time to
make real the promises of democracy.
Now is the time to
rise from the dark and desolate valley of discrimination (and
stagnation) to the sunlit path of racial justice
Now is the time to
lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid
rock of brotherhood.
Now is the time to
make justice a reality for all of God's children
Martin
Luther said, "There are those who are asking the devotees of civil
rights, "When will you be satisfied?"" Martin said, "We can
never
be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable
horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as
long
as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in
the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We
cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a
smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as
long
as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their
dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". (For the rich
only).
We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi (Florida) (and
ex-felons) cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing
for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will
not
be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness
like a mighty stream."
If
it is just talk (rhetoric and not reality), and if that is what it
always will be, then let me know as soon as possible so I can stop
wasting my time.
If it has been said
already, and could have been done already, why isn't it done, by
NOW?
As Nike would say,
JUST DO IT, or
AS MICHAEL JACKSON
WOULD SAY, JUST BEAT IT, or
AS PERL , MY WIFE
WOULD SAY, JUST FORGET IT
Talk is cheap
Hard work is hard
Things of value are
valuable
You can't ride a
man's back unless he is bent over
Straighten up if you
don't want decent and good people to ride your back
Ignore fools and stay
away from them
Don't cast your
pearls before swine, or give that which is holy to the dogs
Recognize haters and
avoid them
Worthless
conversation can be more dangerous than just worthless
The Dream is Now.
Why is the dream now? Why was the dream not now,
but last year on the 19th annual anniversary of
our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration?
The American Dream
became a wonderful reality for 10's of millions of people in America,
but it has also become a nightmare for millions of
others.
What dream is Now?
Which dream is
Now?
Whose dream is Now?
It is time that the
dream is now for all God's children
Red, yellow, black,
brown and white people
Jews and gentiles
Protestants and
Catholics
Slaves and
free
Incarcerated and
liberated
Rich and poor
Uptown and downtown
In the suburbs and in
the hood
Educated and
uneducated
Martin Luther King
Jr. said "I have a dream."
It was his
dream for America
His dream for his
people and
His dream for all
people
His
dream was not just a dream for black people, but for all
people.
His vision was to see the nightmare of segregation, prejudice, hatred,
discrimination, racism, classism, sexism and all other kinds of
oppressive ‘isms' ended, not only in America but around the
world. He spent and gave his life in the hope of helping the
dream come true for all men, women and children.
His
dream also became my dream and became the dream of many, many good
people not only in America but around the world. His dream is
a
wonderful dream for America, and for the world. If the Dream
is
NOW, is it still a dream? Hope that is seen is no longer
hope,
for why does one hope for what he sees come to pass. Barack
Obama
is President now. It is not a dream any more for
me. It is
now a dream that came true. Makes me wanta Holla!
God bless you.
