Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney:
April 20th Statement for Peace
April 20, 2002
We come here today from the four corners of this
nation.
We are blacks and whites, Latinos, Asians, and
Native Americans; Christians, Muslims, and Jews;
gay, lesbian, and straight; immigrants and native-born
Americans; rich and poor.
Here today are representatives of all sections
of society: students, union members . . .
union members on strike . . .
homeless veterans . . .
and everyday warriors on the battlefield for
justice.
But despite all our differences, we are here
today . . . one community with one thing in common:
a desire to see the restoration of the true ideals
of America.
America -- where fundamental rights to vote,
speak, and practice religion mean something.
A country that has a democratic form of government,
a democratic way of life and a nation in which
all can participate freely in political activity
and share in the abundance of its harvest.
But America today is still a far cry from the
noble Republic founded upon tho se words: "All
men are created equal."
We have not dealt well with our diversity and
too many of our citizens suffer needlessly.
Each day millions of Americans suffer poverty,
hunger, the sting of discrimination . . .
arbitrary arrest, racial profiling, and brutality
from rogue police . . .
inadequate health care, drug abuse, and unemployment.
For the millions of poor Americans, ours is
not a just society.
More than 31 million Americans live in poverty.
One in every six of our children live in poverty.
Some of our nation's poor even sleep each night
on the steps of the buildings just visible from
the bedrooms of the White House.
And sadly, many of those who sleep on America's
streets are our veterans from US wars . . .
Sadly, nor is ours a democratic society.
In November 2000, the Republicans stole from
America our most precious right of all: the right
to free and fair elections.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary
of State Katherine Harris, created a phony list
of convicted felons--57,700 to be exact--to "scrub"
thousands of innocent people from the state's
voter rolls. Of the thousands who ultimately lost
their vote through this scrub of voters, 80% were
African-American, mostly Democratic Party voters.
Had they voted, the course of history would have
changed. Instead, however, Harris declared Bush
the victor by only 537 votes.
Now President Bush occupies the White House,
but with questionable legitimacy.
But however he got there, his Administration
is now free to spend one to four billion dollars
a month on the war in Afghanistan . . .
free to cut the high deployment overtime pay
of our young service men and women fighting in
that war . . .
free to propose drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Reserve National Park . . .
free to stonewall on the Enron and Energy Task
Force investigations . . .
free to revoke the rules that keep our drinking
water free of arsenic . . .
free to get caught in Venezuela . . .
and free to propose laws that deny our citizens
sacred freedoms cherished under the Constitution.
We must dare to remember all of this.
We must dare to debate and challenge all of
this.
And that is why we are here today.
We come here today to chart a new course for
our communities and for America.
To fight against bigotry, we stand together
as one and we must.
To fight against injustice, we stand together
as one and we must.
To fight against poverty, we stand together
as one and we must.
To fight against the destruction of our environment,
we stand together as one and we must.
To wage peace instead of war, we stand together
as one and we must.
Because, through our efforts, I believe we can
once again, make America a force for good in the
world.
We, as the world's most powerful nation have
a responsibility to act in defense of the weak
and to protect them from harm.
We failed in Rwanda.
We failed in Srebrenica.
We failed in East Timor.
And now, as we speak, we fail in Jenin.
Let us dedicate ourselves here today, to join
together as one.
When one person stands up and speaks out for
the suffering of the weak, a tiny ripple of hope
is created.
When numerous people stand and demand justice
for the multitude who have been forgotten, a strong
current of possibilities is created.
When an entire community stands up and demands
change a mighty wave of freedom and justice is
created.
We gather here today and we speak with one voice
. . .
And let us remember, that one person can make
a ripple.
One ripple can make a movement.
One movement can make a voice.
And one voice can make mighty change.
Let us leave here today and make the change
this country needs to be loved and respected around
the world once again.
Thank you.
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