Commemorating on Martin Luther King Day - 2009
History in plain sight ~ it was just last week that we witnessed the plane crash of the flight of US Air 1549, where all on board walked off the flight safely.

We have been witnesses to history being made before our eyes in the last century; a man walking on the moon or the Berlin wall coming down; the discovery of a vaccine to fight Polio or the medical breakthrough of heart transplant surgery. We’ve seen more history made with the discovery of matching DNA, laser surgery, computer technology and the internet ~ providing us with a virtual library of unlimited research capabilities and forever changing the way we do business.

We have seen the end of apartheid in South Africa and the end of segregation. Of course we will never forget the attack on the twin towers as we watched planes on TV declare war on our country.

It is fitting that we honor the Reverend Martin Luther King tonight, because tomorrow history once again will be witnessed; the swearing in of our 44th President of the United States, Barrack Obama; a man of color.

Look how far we have come as a country. Was it yesterday that we were marching in major cities; or watching young children walking into a school in Selma?

Reverend King should be very proud of this major accomplishment. Our country has finally turned a corner.

We have come far. We have a ways to go. Let us patiently resolve to continue to strive for a world where our accomplishments are measured by our treatment of our fellow man; and let us not forget the words of the great man we honor today:

“We have flown the air like birds and swim the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.””

Respectfully,

Michael B. Kwasman, Mayor