Realizing The Dream - MLK Sunday - Jan. 14 (Riverside Church Live Webcast 4PM EST)

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Realizing The Dream - MLK Sunday - Jan. 14
Posted on Riverside Blog January 09, 2007

Watch the webcast live Sunday at 4 p.m.: http://easylink.playstream.com/winlive/theriversidechurch.wvx

Realizing the Dream Inc. is an organization founded by M.L.K. III to empower people and communities to take charge of their lives; they have been traveling throughout America this past year visiting distressed communities. Lessons have been learned and programs are being fashioned to respond to the needs of the people they have met along the way.

In 2006, we initiated the “Realizing the Dream.” service at The Riverside Church to commemorate Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and also uplift the principles that he articulated in his historic speech at Riverside. In that speech Dr. King laid the groundwork for a comprehensive campaign against a dehumanizing foreign policy and structural economic inequality.

As we enter 2007, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday is a chance to once again reflect on what has and has not been achieved. What would Dr. King say if he knew that the number of Americans living in poverty equals the population of twenty-five states? What would he say if he knew that it is now easier for a poor child in Britain or France to advance socially than a poor child in America? What would he say to rising education and healthcare costs, while the real wages of many working Americans stagnate or decline?

http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/news/article.php?id=128

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1. Have you been able to get the stream going?

I've been trying for quite a while using the link from the Riverside webpage and using direct links...

mms://winlive.global.playstream.com/theriversidechurch

mms://64.95.53.21/theriversidechurch

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5. Not yet. Still trying.

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6. I HAVE AUDIO!

mms://winlive.global.playstream.com/theriversidechurch

mms://64.95.53.21/theriversidechurch

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9. Audio here, too.

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7. Connected!

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10. Jinx! We both posted at exactly 4:27...

This isn't John yet - warm up speaker...

:D

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2. Thanks--I'm waiting for a connection right now...

You are always so on top of it--THANX!!

:applause:

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3. Are you streaming bobbo...? (n/t)

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4. Sadly, no....I thought it was going to work, but.... :(

I'm hoping it's because they are unexpectedly overloaded with listeners.

I would have enjoyed hearing it.

With any luck, it will be kept online.

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8. I HAVE AUDIO! Try again...

mms://winlive.global.playstream.com/theriversidechurch

mms://64.95.53.21/theriversidechurch

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30. ***** Senator Edwards' outstanding & inspirational address ***** is available here:

Senator Edwards' Address: http://johnedwards.com/media/audio/riversidechurch.mp3

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31. Thanks! I will have to listen to it now--

I was disappointed, but hoping it would be archived somewhere.

Thanks so much!

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11. 40 years after his death the gap between rich and poor has grown

to crisis proportions...

11 million children went to sleep last night not knowing whether tomorrow would be their turn to have breakfast.

Self-congratulations is not enough. Watching a snippet of "I Have A Dream" speech tomorrow is not enough.

Poverty is with us, we don't need another Katrina to reveal it.

We go home tonight and we look in the mirror and make a decision - is America the honeypot of moral values?

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12. This isn't Martin King III - who is it? (n/t)

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13. When it comes to war on poverty, no one is a conscientious objector. (n/t)

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14. "When it comes to the war on poverty, there is no such thing as a conscientious objector."

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15. Not bad - Rev. Forbes was late because he was swearing in

Congressmember Rangel as Chair of the House Ways & Means Committee.

:applause:

Speakers coming up: Martin Luther King III, Senator John Edwards, and Marian Wright Edelman.

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17. "Martin, you shall not have died in vain."

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16. Rev. Forbes: Martin you SHALL NOT have died in vain! (n/t)

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18. Senator Schumer has arrived. Senator Edwards being introduced... (n/t)

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19. Martin King III - Edwards has dedicated his life to fighting poverty...

It takes a person on the national stage to define things TO DO about the issue...

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20. And Senator Edwards says...

Acknowledges Elizabeth.

Thanks Riverside Clergy for their great work and bring light to 37 million people in U.S. who wake up everyday worried about feeding and clothing their children. That is not okay.

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21. When Rev. Forbes sat down at the lunch counter in North Carolina,

risking his life - I remember it vividly - I want everyone to know - he stood up. He stood up for me, for African Americans all over the nation, and I want everyone to know that we in North Carolina are proud of him.

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22. King's Riverside speech - "There comes a time when silence is betrayal" -

of our - our joint responsibility to each other, to all our brothers and sisters across the globe.

He did not direct his demands to the government - he spoke to the American people, calling on us to break our silence, calling on us to start a revolution of values.

We cannot stand by and hope that someone else will right the wrongs.

:applause:

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23. We must refuse to wait for others to act. That time is with us today.

It is a betrayal to stand silent and watch 37 million of our brothers and sisters worry about surviving everyday. In the richest nation on the face of the planet.

It is a betrayal not to speak out against an escalation of the war in Iraq.

Sustained, sustained applause....

(Grumble says Indy - I wish he would remark that this "escalation" isn't one - it merely brings troop levels back to where they were at the start of the war, which was way below what military commanders wanted.)

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24. There will never be a military victory in Iraq - the question is how do we

achieve a political solution and peace. The answer is for Iraqis to take responsibility. The best way for Americans to make clear that we will be leaving Iraq is to begin leaving Iraq.

Congress must step up now and stop Congress from putting more troops in harm's way. If you are in Congress - it is no longer okay to study your options and keep your own counsel. You must speak out, you must use your power to stop this president.

Use that power! Use it now!

Tell your Congressmen to stand up. The reward of courage is trust and we desperately need

We are the pre-eminate power in the world today. We are the only power capable of bringing stability...

We cannot stand idly by and let people die in Darfur, let children in Africa be born with AIDS, let a huge proportion of the world live on less than $2 per day.

Don't think your only obligation is to pick the next politician you are going to vote for - it is a fantasy - it will never happen - you have to take responsibility.



(Grumble: The statement that Iraqis must take responsibility is bull. They haven't been irresponsible - they been starved, lost their jobs, been terrorized. We are *not* the only power capable of brining stability and peace - what we bring is war and death. We are less than 5% of the world's population - less than 5%. We need a damn big dose of humility.)

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25. We've got to counter apathy with action,

we've got to break the silence about poverty.

46-47 million people who are worried sick that if they wake up in the middle of the night with a sick 4-year-old they are going to have to go to the local emergency room and beg for treatment. :cry:

We've got to break the silence about the damage fossil fuels is doing to the gift that God has given us - this world.

We don't break faith with our forefathers, with our national values, with our troops.

It is time for America to be patriotic about something other than war. (I think).

(Sustained applause)

In fact, patriotism is about refusing to support something you know is wrong.

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26. I've seen that when ordinary Americans got tired of waiting for

Congress to raise the minimum wage, they put it on ballot initiatives and it passed in six states.

We've organized unions - now those workers have job security and they have a pension.

On the day Dr. King died in Memphis he was standing with sanitation workers.

It comes down to what Dr. King said is life's most persistent and urgent question, "What are we doing for others?"

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27. The world needs to see that America understands that we

have a responsibility not just to ourselves, but to the world. The world needs to see our better angels.

God Bless the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King.
God Bless the memory of Coretta Scott King.

Thank You.

Applause.

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28. Joshua - 13-years-old just spoke aloud a piece of "I Have a Dream" (n/t)

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29. Whoa! Dr. King: The greatest injustice is children without health care! (n/t)