Today is a day set aside from other days to recognize and remember the great gift that we, as Americans, have received from the work and the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Day will be celebrated at Ramapo High School from 5-7 PM today, Jan 17.
While Dr. King is remembered for his work in many areas, including peace and nonviolence, fighting poverty, and achieving voting rights, he is probably most remembered for his role in promoting integration in America.
Today we celebrate the benefits that all races enjoy as a result of our intermingling of life experiences with those from different backgrounds. Americans today are free to work with, go to school with, and befriend anyone they choose. Our government has stopped promoting segregation, stopped tolerating segregation, stopped funding segregation.
All of this progress has been made within the lifetime of many of us who are not so old today. It is truly miraculous that we have come this far, this fast, and we are already celebrating the holiday's 25th year, less than 50 years after the "I have a dream" speech.
One of the great strengths of the East Ramapo School District has been the diversity of our integrated schools and classrooms. Many people are unaware that Rockland County was one of the early battlegrounds of integration, and that Thurgood Marshall won a desegregation case in Hillburn 11 years before he ended "separate but equal" in America with his victory in Brown v. Topeka Board of Ed.
May 17 has been named Thurgood Marshall Day in New York State. It is also Election day for the East Ramapo School Board. I am asking everyone who receives this message to help our district to honor the memory of Dr. King and Thurgood Marshall by exercising your right to vote.
We can preserve the legacy of Dr. King and of Justice Marshall, by participating in a virtual march: from January 17, Martin Luther King's day to May 17, Thurgood Marshall Day, by spreading the word to our colleagues, friends, and neighbors. Let them hear "Vote May 17" everywhere they go!
You can sign up to help at our web page: www.poweroften.us
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