Political Quotes

“let me tell you how we mark this holiday in my home city of San Francisco as a day on, not a day off. We have in our city a very special man. His name is Dr. Cecil Williams, reverend to the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. This is a huge church with a congregation of more than 3,000 people. People come into the Tenderloin of San Francisco from all over the Bay Area every Sunday to celebrate nonviolence, to celebrate the rehabilitation of the human soul. It is a church that truly ministers to the neediest among us, those who are down and out, those who have problems with drug addiction, who are homeless, who have been violent. It is a ``turn-around'' church. Reverend Williams is the chairman of the Martin Luther King Holiday observance. On that day, a ``Freedom Train'' brings people from all over northern California into San Francisco. They march from the train station, through downtown, and on to the Civic Auditorium where they hear people from all walks of life speak about the message that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to carry to this world, the message of nonviolence. As Dr. King said--and this is often quoted on those birthday celebrations: Peace is not merely the absence of some negative force, it is the presence of a positive force. True peace is not merely the absence of tension, but is the presence of justice and brotherhood. Can anybody say that justice and brotherhood abound today in this land? I think not.…”