The Content of HER Character [Updated with VIDEO]
By Fleaflicker on April 4, 2008 at 7:32 PM in Current Affairs, Health Care, Hillary Clinton, Martin Luther King, SCHIP
Lessons we learn when we are young tend to stick with us throughout life. Especially when those lessons are learned from people we respect and admire. Hillary Clinton learned a few important lessons from a very great man whose death we both mourn and celebrate on this day.
At the tender age of 14, Hillary had her first “Awakening” when a pastor took her to see the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Chicago. The sermon was named: ‘Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.’ And no sermon could have been more appropriate or more effective in determining the future of this young woman. Because what she learned that day was that there are issues more important than any of us. There are injustices we must confront because solving them expresses our morality and validates our humanity.
As Hillary spoke today [PHOTO] at the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s death she paid tribute not only to the man she once met but to the dream he literally gave his life for. [VIDEO UPDATE AT END.]
Hillary’s Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Death
As a young woman, I was privileged to be taken to hear Dr. King speak by a youth minister who opened my eyes and ears and my horizons. Dr. King’s call to action that evening in Chicago led me to confront a world bigger and broader than the one I inhabited. He had a way of doing that, of pushing us outside our own comfort zone, of making it clear that we had to be part of the revolution that was going on. It wasn’t a revolution of guns. It was a revolution of hearts and minds, of attitudes and actions.
When one heard Dr. King speak, and I stood in line for a very long time that night to shake his hand. And he was gracious, and he was kind to lean over to shake the hand of a 14-year-old girl from the from the suburbs of Chicago, who went to an all-white church and an all-white school, and lived in an all-white suburb. But he didn’t ask me, as I reached out my hand, where do you live, what is your experience? He just took it and looked in my face and thanked me for coming.
[ PHOTO CAPTION: Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) (R) stands with civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Hooks (C) and Charles Taylor (L) on the balcony of the former Lorraine Motel, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, April 4, 2008. April 4th marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the civil rights leader who was shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES) || Slide Show at Yahoo News ]
Hillary learned something valuable that day. And it was after that speech that she began to see the world differently. She began to understand that she had been given a privileged life compared to so many less fortunate. And she decided that she would dedicate her life to helping those in need, those who were forgotten and invisible. It was as if she had intuitively understood the deeper meaning of Dr. King’s message.
And when he stood against discrimination, he wasn’t just seeking to free African Americans from the shackles of slavery and the past that had been shaped by that abomination; he was seeking to break the shackles of hatred on the hearts of us all. He yearned for our country to fulfill the ideals that it had given lip service to, that were embodied in our founding documents. In his last speech here, he took us on a tour of history, but showed us the unfinished business and unrealized promises of America.
She was also inspired to share Dr. King’s deep conviction to stand up against injustice and continue fighting for what one knows is just even when all hope has failed. She more than many, has seen the dark depths of despair and yet she has risen every time to conquer when others so often counted her out and wrote her off.
His faith in America animated and sustained his journey. Like with any faith, there were dark moments when one doubts, when one is on the brink of giving up and throwing in the towel. But he would always come back from those dark places and so must we.
And Hillary claims justly that her run for Presidency is directly inspired by what Dr. King preached his entire lifetime.
Video Tribute to the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Well, I’m running for president because I still remember Dr. King’s challenge. He asked us what we would say when we appear before the throne of judgment and are asked, ‘What did you do for others?’ Dr. King said that no matter what our answer might be, God would say, ‘Well, that is not enough.’ There is always more to be done.
For throughout her life she has striven to do to do more, to push harder and to work smarter. From her early work on the Children’s Defense Fund to her advocacy for the SCHIP program, Hillary has always stood up for the least fortunate, for the voiceless in a society filled with self interested blow hards. And even though she was unable to accomplish her goal the first time, Hillary made it her life’s work to manifest Universal Health Care for all Americans, not just those that could afford it. Because for Hillary, like Dr. King, doing so is a moral responsibility.
Hillary’s Remarks on the 40th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Death
Dr. King taught us everything we needed to know about his legacy and how to carry it forward, but in the end it is up to each of us to walk that path. It is not an easy path. It was hard for him. It is hard for us.
Sometimes we take steps backwards so maybe then we can figure out a new way forward. But I have abiding confidence, and yes, faith that we can make our way to higher ground. Whether or not we make it to the mountain top, whether we make it to the Promised Land is not for us to know, but I believe with all my heart it is for us to try. And when we get tired and when our faith starts to waiver, we can of course remember Dr. King’s faith in us.
Yes Hillary is a fighter. Because one cannot give up, one cannot give in when winning the battle is so essential to realizing the dream that Dr. King so eloquently charged us to fulfill. And like Dr. King, Hillary realizes that we may not make it to the mountain the first few times we try. But that should never stop us from trying time and time again. Because the journey is itself just as important as the goal.
Dr. King taught us everything we needed to know about his legacy and how to carry it forward, but in the end it is up to each of us to walk that path. It is not an easy path. It was hard for him. It is hard for us. Sometimes we take steps backwards so maybe then we can figure out a new way forward. But I have abiding confidence, and yes, faith that we can make our way to higher ground. Whether or not we make it to the mountain top, whether we make it to the Promised Land is not for us to know, but I believe with all my heart it is for us to try. And when we get tired and when our faith starts to waiver, we can of course remember Dr. King’s faith in us.
Thank you Hillary. Nothing could be truer or more pertinent today.
VIDEO UPDATE:
Special thanks to C.S. for the video.
:::::::::::::::
Please follow the link below to a clip of the first part of Hillary’s speech today.
[…] NO QUARTER put an intriguing blog post on The Content of HER Character […]
Fleaflicker..
Beautifully written..Thanks for the Links..I am glad that NQ has such great people like you and others to put this type of Material together..this is the Time..and a good place to remember Martin Luther Kings Words..and realize How many People of Different color He Inspired..I know He Inspired Me..
and I was deeply Moved by his Words, His faith, The Speech about reaching th Mountain Top..and I Bonded with him, as a christian…and as a Young White Teenager who believed in His message, In Equality, In the Fight to end Predjudice, Discrimination and Segregation..He made us believe in the Good..and to Hope for the Future..He was prophetic..
I was deeply depressed when He was Assasinated..and I still feel the same Emotions now as I write and share this day with You, Susan, Hillary and others..
We Must peacefully do all we can to Keep that dream Alive..
Thank you so much..Hillary gave such a wonderful speech..and she truely has done her best to help Carry on Her inspirations from Martin Luther King..
You could feel it Today..
Such a sad day today. I’m glad Hillary took the time out to go. Her speech really choked me up when I saw some of it on TV and when I read it here.
I just don’t get BO not going, not going to the Black State of the Union. It just doesn’t really make sense to me at all.
Slightly off topic. I went over to my dd, I was just going through the different blogs listed and found a thread that said that over at NQ we were “bat guano crazy over here…” It helped me cheer up a little bit, I’ve been called a lot of things, but never bat guano crazy…
Don’t know why but it cheered me up immensely on this sad day.
bat guano is really good fertilizer.
Many of us remember Bobby Kennedy speaking to a hostile crowd after Dr. King’s murder. Bobby abandoned his notes and with tears in his eyes, spoke of the love, wisdom and compassion that Dr. King preached we should feel towards one another.
Then consider Obama and his family listening to the hateful preachings of Rev. Wright for 20 years…where is the love, wisdom or compassion from Barack or Rev. Wright?
There was a clip of this posted I think last week here. It was one of the best speeches I have ever seen/heard, and BK was just giving it from his heart, no teleprompters, no notes. Brought tears to my eyes.
And where was Obama on this very important day? [cue crickets]
Isn’t it interesting that Obama was not there in Selma when his parents met because of Selma. Oh, that’s right, his parents met (4) years after he was born.
You see Obama couldn’t make it to the State of the Black Union and now he cannot make it down to Selma to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s death. How can he be considered the MLK/JFK/RFK of candidates when he does not bother to show up for anything. How can he lead a “revolution” that he doesn’t bother to show up for?
INDIANA?
Yup, he didn’t even bother to go to Memphis.
It occurs to me that Obama could have used this occasion to actually show, he can show up because he cares more about the occasion and the man than the fact that Hillary was there.
Makes me think back to when Bill Clinton chastised folks at CORETTA SCOTT King’s wake. And Obama has the temerity to call Bill Clinton a racist.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/jan-june06/king_2-07.html
KITE..
Nice Touch buddy..
Obama supporter Dr. Cornel West disagrees with his candidate’s no-show explanation:
Obama’s penchant to avoid venues where poverty, injustice, and civil rights are on the agenda speaks volumes about the content of his character.
I don’t have a chance to live in the time of Dr. King. But I’m very lucky and proud that I’m walking on this earth with Hillary. And I CHOSE to be part of history in the making.
Fleaflicker, THANK YOU so much for this. I tell you, when I read this woman’s words reflecting on the life of MLK, Jr., what he meant to her, and to what he has called us, I am moved to tears. Wow. What an extraordinary woman. Thank you!
Great article. One of the things that I admire about Clinton is that she is sincere about her political ideologues. She has through her actions demonstrated a sincere activism for civil rights. As a woman she understands the peculiar prejudice of anti-female sexism that affect more than 1/2 of the global population regardless of race or class. I was listening to the radio as a reporter interviewed a female politician from Kenya who had the audacity to run for parliament. She was beaten and hospitialized because she wanted to run for office and serve her country. She didn’t win. What’s incredible is that she expressed a conviction that Kenya will have females in parliament and perhaps a president within 10 yrs. Pretty sure it was Kenya, it was on NPR and they were doing a story on the support and interest Obamessiah was receiving in Dad’s homeland. By the way the man they interviewed about HRC being POTUS laughed and said he believed that women belong in the kitchen. Typical ( dare I say it…. Kenyan Male response ? )
My husband and I were just talking about Hillary and Bill today, about how the Obama campaign was so sure they’d find something in their financial statements. And all it showed us was that they managed to make a lot of money–I say, Good For Them! They both deserve to make that and a lot more for all they’ve done for the country, and all they continue to do for their fellow men and women (not EVEN counting the horrible things they endured from their enemies during his Presidency). We were saying how they’ve understood how blessed their lives have been and as part of their gratitude, have spent their lives being of service to others. I just don’t see Barack Obama with the same sort of generosity of spirit or selflessness.
And she’s funny! I was so happy to see her on the Tonight Show, laughing and making jokes. She’s adorable, and I don’t see how people can describe her otherwise. It’s the word, “shrill,” that gets me…it’s like a cue word in a hypnotist’s act…when people describe her with that particular word, I know they’re just repeating what they heard in the Media.
Thanks, Fleaflicker. Your posting of such a lovely piece shows the content of YOUR character.
It’s the word, “shrill,” that gets me…it’s like a cue word in a hypnotist’s act…when people describe her with that particular word, I know they’re just repeating what they heard in the Media.
Yep - for me it’s the word “devisive”. I bet if you ask 10 people who don’t like Hillary to explain why they don’t like her - they would all say she’s “devisive”. But if you them what that means - I’m guessing they wouldn’t even have a clue.
oops. Divisive
spelling error
I have actually done that sort of informal inquiry, mostly out of curiosity bcause early on try as I might I just couldn’t get the infatuation with the O-Man that I was witnessing. I mean I watched him and heard him speak and he seemed like a kinda-sorta interesting guy, but POTUS ? So I asked my mother ( she’s 73 and has a crush on O-Man ) Why not vote for HRC ? She told me she wasn’t qualified. I countered with O-Man’s career in comparison. we went on and on and finally she just said she didn’t like her. I asked why ? and it boiled down to some lame jumble that was related to a ridiculous post feminist blather about how HRC should’ve left Ol’ Bill or kicked him out over the tramp. I started laughing and reminded her that she stayed with Ol’ Dad who was a serial filanderer until he left because he’d found his true love ( Classic mid-life crisis circa 1978 ). My mother is a devout catholic and so I reminded her that HRC just did the correct thing according to many faiths, She worked it out and did it with dignity. Finally I told my mother that what was sad is that Women finally have a candidate and the only reason she won’t vote for her is for the irrational reason of not approving of her marriage solution from 1998? ( Mom loved Ferraro )
I have a theory, however unscientific, HRC reminds women of all that high school stuff they never worked out. She’s like the smart, popular, hard working girl who is attactive but not gorgeous and still ends up with the quarter back. In my theory if you dealt with your high school issues, chances are you’ll support the candidate because of their platforms and a judgement or instinct about their capabilities. If you haven’t released your highschool demons you might vote based on likability or some other emotional response that when uttered out loud sound fairly embarrassing. Just a theory.