Thank you, Dr. King.

J and I went to the Manhattan Country School's annual MLK walk for the 2nd time. 8th graders at the school do a wonderful job putting together this walk, which had the theme "Letters to Obama" this year. Less than 24 hours to history!

Recently, I shared a speech at work on our annual MLK assembly. Here is the text.

Once again, I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to speak at an assembly honoring one of my heroes, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is wonderful to have a day set aside to celebrate Dr. King, but it is equally important to spend time throughout the year to honor his efforts and the efforts of all the members of the Civil Rights Movement. These people must never be forgotten. They found it so important “to help make things fair and equal” for all Americans. Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a political office, once spoke about the Declaration of Independence and how it states, “All men are created equal. He said, “No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words! That is what America is!” Supervisor Milk, people are putting those erasers away! It seems as though we are at a point in our history where we are not only believing that people are equal, but our actions are proving it as well.

If ever to have the chance to speak about Dr. King, now seems a very appropriate time. We have been talking about Dr. King and his dream a lot recently, in reference mainly to Barack Obama, who will, in just a few days, become this country’s 44th president, and the first African-American to hold that important office. It was at last year’s King assembly that I spoke of the former junior senator from Illinois, and how he had a realistic chance of winning the presidency. None of us, including me, could have predicted how much our country would change in a year.

Thanks to people like Dr. King, and now thanks to Barack Obama, we can dream a dream that seems more real now than ever before. People of color can dream and see themselves as presidents, first ladies, movie superheroes, and business people. We can dream of winning the Super Bowl or the World Series, not just as a player, but as a coach or general manager. We can dream of writing the great American novel or play. You know what? We can dream about accomplishing just about anything now.

But, I also want us to pay tribute to the people who sacrificed so much to lead us to this moment. Not only should we celebrate the triumphs, but we must respect the struggles.

So, let us put aside political parties and understand the history of next Tuesday’s inauguration in a country scarred by the horrors of slavery and say with President-Elect Obama, “Yes, we can!”

I hope people spent some time thinking about Dr. King and his efforts today. It's nice to have a day off, but let's remember why. Let's remember the challenges to even establish this as a national holiday. Not every state thought it important enough, right Sen. McCain? Thankfully, everyone came around. Now, on to Tuesday!