Executive Marc Molinaro’s Dr. King Day Message

POUGHKEEPSIE – Dr. Martin Luther King, and his immense and everlasting effect on our nation and way of life, was not only a man of great principle, compassion and a towering leader of the Civil Rights movement, and an American hero, but also he was a true patriot, citizen, and American hero.

I say, true patriot and citizen, for only a true patriot and a true citizen, in its deepest sense, would commit himself so fully to perfecting our union and preserving the American Experiment. Without his work to heal divides, shine a light on injustice, and his everlasting commitment to equality, our nation would not be what it is today…flawed as it is, but so much better for his work.

Last year, I spoke about Dr. King’s reverence for the Declaration of Independence and the promise it held of equality for all. I find this moving, this deep love for a document, for a promise that only through his own blood, sweat, and tears would come closer to be being truly fulfilled. Yet today, I talk about something deeper – a root, a foundation, a pillar – that I suspect that love was built on – our shared humanity.

As Dr. King once so eloquently put it “…all mankind is tied together; all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be – this is the interrelated structure of reality.”

So much is packed into these words – love, empathy, and the enduring logic of equality for all. There is also something else, an implicit call to action. A duty to fight injustice, to seek justice, and to work to provide all with the opportunities to become who they should be in this world. An opportunity unburdened of the cruelties and chains of inequality and racial justice.

There is something else in these lines so meaningful today. We so often ask, “Is this who we are?” We are each other, intrinsically bound to one another, not only our fates sealed as one but the quality of our time and well-being. So we must not only seek mutual fulfillment, allowing each to become who they should be, we should also spend our time being good to ourselves and each other. For harm against one is harm against all. Cruelty to one is cruelty to all. Injustice for one is injustice for all.

These words are beautiful and meaningful, however, what is truly awe-inspiring is that Dr. King set out to live them. To bring love and peace to all. To preserve justice for all.

We honor this great man today. This patriot shined a path forward and helped make our imperfect union more perfect. He struggled and fought, but always with love. And, today, perhaps more than ever, it is critical to remind ourselves we are tied together in a single garment of destiny, bound by love.