Featured speeches given by County Executive, Ron Sims
Speech from KentLake High School's MLK assembly
Thank you Diversity Club president Jonathan Santos.
Thank you KentLake High School teachers and staff.
And thank you students so much for inviting me here today.
We gather here - as so many others will across the nation - to celebrate a man and a life that has transformed a society and, indeed, the world.
I want to talk to you today about what the past has to say about the lives we lead today, and about the lives we'll live in the future. I want to talk to you about how the story of freedom and justice in our society is unfolding.
Most importantly, I want to talk about the role that you - each and every one of you - will play as the next chapter is written in the saga of our democratic experiment; about how you will write that chapter.
This past year has seen some remarkable events that are a direct reflection of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior and his tireless work for freedom and justice.
One year ago I stood in the magnificent new lobby of the King County Courthouse, with its panoramic mural depicting the sweep of history, including Dr. King's historic 1963 March on Washington .
Have you seen it? The next time you are downtown, take a few minutes and come see it. It is an impressive work that literally envelopes you in the history of both our region and our nation.
Three months after that dedication, Governor Christine Gregoire came to the courthouse lobby and signed legislation giving official recognition of King County as Martin Luther King Junior County . It is a designation I and many others had fought for and won at the county level some twenty years ago. Recognition by the state, however was a bit longer in the making; the final act on a journey to a full and just recognition.
Of course, there was another journey that ended this past year, that of the life of Rosa Parks. One woman who - on an otherwise ordinary day 50 years ago in Montgomery, Alabama - had the temerity, the personal fortitude and the simple dignity of a hard working seamstress to refuse to move to the back of the bus.
No one knew at the time the profound effect this single act of courage would have on the continuing struggle for justice and equality.
No one knew that Rosa Parks would ride that bus into history as the ever-lasting symbol of the modern civil rights movement.
What Rosa Parks did know was that the time had come for action; it was time to write a new chapter in the struggle for freedom.
So, let's talk about that word: Freedom.
Freedom is a word that is being tossed about by politicians and TV talk show hosts these days like confetti at a New Years parade. It is a very powerful word. And when used in certain ways it can have a profound effect. But, I think, maybe some of us use it with too much abandon, and not quite enough respect for its true meaning.
In a democracy we further the cause of freedom through several means.
Freedom of speech, enshrined in our Constitution, is one of the most powerful of these means.
Our court system is another. Through its interpretations of our laws, courts help define and protect freedoms by giving a voice to those with a legitimate grievance; just as the Supreme Court did in "Brown vs. the Board of Education" where they ruled that segregation in our schools was unconstitutional.
But perhaps the most direct and effective method for preserving and advancing the cause of freedom is contained in the simple act of voting.
You might be surprised at what it has taken to win and protect this basic freedom.
Rosa Parks' act of courage spurred a movement that brought Doctor King to the front page of every newspaper and to the nightly newscasts on every television in America . It spawned a movement that brought hundreds of thousands of people together for what was then the biggest march on Washington in the history of this nation. It convinced a sitting president from a southern state – Lyndon Johnson - to push for and win passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, an act that opened the ballot box to people of color by outlawing practices such as the poll tax and tests used against people of color – those courageous enough to even attempt voting in many parts of the south.
Can you imagine having to pay a fee and answer a questionnaire to cast a ballot? You should believe it, because it was a normal practice in many parts of our country just forty-some years ago.
The Voting Rights Act put an end to some of the worst forms of discrimination in our country.
But discrimination in a democratic society like ours is like water on a sidewalk: it seeks out any low spots or cracks in an unyielding effort to find a way through.
Did you know that, in Florida a few years ago, thousands and thousands of legitimate voters were removed from the roles simply because they had names similar to those on a list of felons?
Did you know that in 2004 political operatives in Ohio attempted to cancel thousands of voter registrations because — I'm not making this up — they were submitted on the wrong thickness of paper?
Did you know that, right here in King County , the rights of thousands of legitimate voters were challenged by political operatives - people who had not the slightest knowledge of the voters they were challenging.
There are more stories like this one being repeated in other counties around the country.
That's why what Mrs. Parks did that day in Montgomery Alabama is just as relevant today as it was over 50 years ago.
It is especially true for all of you present in this room. Many of you will be turning 18 years old soon. Some of you may have already reached that age.
Soon you will have the right to vote. Soon you will have your ticket to help change the world.
And that means you have a very important decision to make.
Let me put that decision in the terms Mrs. Rosa Parks faced on December 1, 1955 .
Will you make your voice heard? Or will you walk silently to the back of the bus?
For her trouble, Mrs. Parks was arrested that fateful day. She was tried in a court of law, convicted and fined. Compared to some, she did very well. During that time some African Americans were killed for disobeying bus drivers.
Later in life, when asked about her role in the civil rights movement Rosa Parks spoke specifically of her desire to inspire young people to live meaningful lives. Lives inspired to take action for both individual and collective good.
The facts reveal, however, time and again, that more than any other age group, it is our youngest eligible voters who turn their backs on the election process. Sadly, it is our youngest minds who take a silent walk to the back of the bus.
I urge you to think of these things, and to think of this great American when the time comes for you to decide whether or not you will realize your civic power and vote.
Now for my part, I promise you this. There are those who are determined to intimidate you and keep your voices silent. Please know that I will fight them. I will fight them here in Washington , and in Ohio , and Florida , and anywhere else they dare to appear.
The struggle for the freedom is woven into the fabric of this country and despite many great civil rights successes in years past that struggle rages on in full force today.
Just like that old sidewalk, we are going to have to patch these cracks in our democracy. One of the first tools to use as an adult is exercising your right to vote.
In order for freedom in a democracy to survive and thrive, it needs you to participate. It's not just words in a constitution. It takes action to defend and advance the cause of freedom. Action makes those words real.
Fortunately, it's also easy. I suggest you include a simple act in your 18 th birthday plans: filling out your voter registration card. You can get them almost anywhere: at your library, motor vehicle office, or local government office.
But American democracy also asks something more of us.
Now, I'm not going to give you a lecture about what cause you should fight for, or who you should vote for.
The fact is you might have a better idea about, say, securing voter rights or an insight into and entirely different problem. Maybe you're working on the next generation of hand-held computers, or a solution to this nation's growing problem with obesity.
The point of a democracy is not to tell you what you want to do, but to free you to do it; to remove barriers to your pursuit of your dreams.
Dr. King once said: "Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
With Doctor King's words in mind, I suggest to you that the most important way to serve freedom's promise is to live your life as fully as possible.
To exercise your rights in pursuit of your dreams.
To speak out when it's time to speak out.
To demand your rights whenever you see them being trampled upon;
And to defend the rights of others whenever you see injustice.
I am asking you to join Rosa Parks and Doctor King in putting your shoulder to the wheel that turns the machinery of democracy.
Toward that end, I look forward to joining you in the good, hard work that freedom demands.
And to writing that next chapter in the story of our democracy.
Thank you for allowing me to speak to you today.