Mr. Adam Sterling, Deputy Chief of Mission of the USA Embassy.
By John Dunkelgrün.
Monday January 18th was the day the United States celebrates as Martin Luther King Day. Overseas Americans Remember organised its 26th! Martin Luther King dinner on January 31st. Almost one hundred people came to commemorate the tremendous courage of this special man, who set into motion the wave that swept away the Ku Klux Klan and all official discrimination of people of color in the U.S. As many of the speakers emphasised though, much still needs to be done.
Most of the speakers were young, middle school boys and girls from all over the country. They were American, or mixed American/Dutch but all had the same message: tell people about equality, teach people that there are things you just don’t do or say, and keep faith that progress will continue. But as the Reverend Hartcourt Klinefelte said this progress will not roll in on the wheels of inevitability. Much work remains to be done.
The keynote speaker was Mr. Adam Sterling, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States, he emphasised that the U.S. is far from static, it is in a real sense a “work in progress”. There has been much improvement and there is hope for further progress and proof that the U.S. can achieve it. He also emphasised that discrimination is not just an American problem and that racism is not a monopoly of white people. We all need leaders who are able to stand down the demagogues without blinking.
The evening, which was organised and scripted by the remarkable Roberta Enschede and MC’d by Jessie Rodell featured moving music, sung and played by Gilad Nezer, Katya HyunJung Ji, the “3 Bones” brass trio and many others.
Sergeant Derrick Turner of the U.S. Marines rendered the famous “I have a dream” speech and Lois Mothershed read a deeply touching letter by her sister, who was one of the Little Rock Nine, the first African American children that went to a white school under army protection.
At this time, when many people in Europe and the United States are worried by the tsunami of fugitives and asylum seekers, the message of Dr. Martin Luther King is particularly relevant.
