Team,
This weekend, we celebrate the 4th of July and our nation’s independence.
As we continue our Why We Care conversation, I’d like to share some excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr’s “The American Dream” message, which was delivered on July 4, 1965:
“I would like to use as a subject from which to preach: ‘The American Dream…’ It is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ This is a dream. It’s a great dream.
The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say ‘some men,’ it says ‘all men.’ It doesn’t say ‘all white men,’ it says ‘all men,’ which includes black men.
The American dream reminds us, and we should think about it anew on this Independence Day, that every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth.
Now ever since the founding fathers of our nation dreamed this dream in all of its magnificence—to use a big word that the psychiatrists use—America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles.
But now more than ever before, America is challenged to realize its dream…
We are challenged to really believe that all men are created equal. And don’t misunderstand that. It does not mean that all men are created equal in terms of native endowment, in terms of intellectual capacity—it doesn’t mean that. There are certain bright stars in the human firmament in every field. It doesn’t mean that every musician is equal to a Beethoven or Handel, a Verdi or a Mozart… There are individuals who do excel and rise to the heights of genius in their areas and in their fields.
What it does mean is that all men are equal in intrinsic worth.”
This 4th, just as in 1965, we, as free Americans, are still challenged to realize this dream, and I want us to be leading the way of making this dream come alive.
It starts right here, in our own organization, right now, by showing respect, exhibiting courtesy and kindness, demonstrating compassion and understanding, and listening without judgment.
What will you do today to make the dream come alive?
Take care,
Dan Greenleaf
Chief Executive Officer, LogistiCare