"The more things change, the more they stay the same." It has been 138 years since African Americans cast that first vote. There were groups of people who fought to allow people of color their vote; and people of color who were afraid to vote, who believed less in their rights and more in the ?others' vote, and those who did not feel that their one vote would count. Does that sound familiar?
Hundreds of years ago, people of color sought equal treatment in their social, economic, and political lives. Today, we find ourselves still seeking economic, social, and political equality. What happened to the change?
This year's theme, The Race is Still On, implies that we are still in a race where these social, economic, and political attempts to reach equality is the finish line. But do not fool yourself into believing that reaching the finish line entitles each of us to time to rest. Instead, we must gear up and run the race all over again. Each time we achieve our goal, we must get ready to achieve it again, for our ancestors, our descendant, and ourselves. These ancestors or descendant don't have to be blood relatives. They don't have to be people we know or relatives or friends or people we know. You see, when any one of these are doing without or are not holding up their side of the banner, those who have reached their goals or are running ahead must help them to reach that goal too. If you are an entrepreneur and have a job, seek to train and employ those unemployed. I you are financially blessed, seek to share that blessing with other less fortuned. If you have skills, seek to train those who do not know. And above all, if you have a kind word, share it with others.
Let's leave here tonight with a renewed spirit that will allow us to not only reach that goal, but to make sure that someone else reaches it too.