Thank you for being here. On this day our presence here is one of the most important actions we can take because we have chosen to stand together to confront hate, racism and war. I am here to remember 9-11 by standing in solidarity with our Muslim sisters and brothers to say no to hate and proclaim that we are all one human family.
As I see it, standing against hate is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Hate feeds racism and war. To work for peace and justice hate must be confronted in all its forms and at all times. We must confront hate by the hate mongers and in our just rage against war and oppression; we must confront the hate that struggles to rise within us. We must not let our anger turn to hate and consume our spirits.
Hate is blinding and it leads good people into darkness. We must remember as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, that darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that and hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that. We as peacemakers and justice seekers must be the light that illuminates the path to envision and build the future.
This is extremely hard. I struggle everyday with my feeling towards the hate mongers, the greedy and those who lead us to war and celebrate death. I am not asking you to love them and you definitely don’t need to like them. But we all must remember as we confront them and speak truth to power that our strength is in our solidarity and our vision of a new way. Each one of us must find our personal path to take our anger and channel it not only into confrontation but most of it must go into peacemaking innovation and positive construction of a new world. We must build what we want to see. We must remember that we are all humans, yes even the haters and in need of understanding and forgiveness.
In closing, do not take my words as a call for passive resistance. That is not how my ancestors made it through slavery to my standing here today. We like them, must be clear and strong in our confronting these injustices and demanding change. But we must remember that while we gain some energy from it, our power is not in our anger. Our power is in our solidarity, our vision and our message of a different world. Our greatest strength is in our dedication and action to build this new world. If we do not build it will not happen.
Power to the people
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