Esteemed friends of the Niagara Movement Foundation, we commemorate you for your commitment to being agents of social change. 

In this country, we often value things over human relationships. We use things to help us feel strong. We even think that to love someone means to make sure they have many things. For some, our hearts and souls have become dreary and numb and we have chosen to live in a state of  “okayness”.

As Americans, we walk past human suffering daily. Many of us look away from all the active wars that compile mountains of bodies by the very minute.

“It’s okay; it’s not my problem,” we as Americans tell ourselves. This acceptance of apathy is in fact not okay– it’s a sickness. 

We’ve grown far too comfortable being disconnected and isolating ourselves. We are too willing to accept bigotry, economic disparities, racism, war, and oppression as long as it doesn’t touch us directly.

But what happens when it does? When we can’t turn a blind eye, whose hands will we reach for? Who will we be calling for help? The same people we disregarded.

Let us actively fight to put an end to this selfishness that those we love have fallen victim to. There exists a pervasive culture of excessive individualism in this nation. It is suffocating. We cannot allow our brothers and sisters to fight on their own. There is such a thing as being too late.

We’ve arrived at a time that demands we recognize the urgency of now. 

 Thousands of federal workers have been laid off. Imagine a nation where everyone makes a living wage and has access to the benefits of society. The deportation of thousands of law-abiding humans pervades the soul of our nation. Picture the day when we can treat each other as human beings with common human rights. Approximately thirty wars are taking place around the world. Envision a world where we communicate as proper neighbors of this world house.

Fascism is like wildfire. It takes a concerted, unified, organized and militant response to put it out.  Now is not the time to play small. Together we must answer the call. The warning sirens blare out, signifying that a hazard is imminent. 

It is important that awake people be awake, or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep; the signals we give — yes, no, or maybe — must be clear, for the darkness around us is deep.

Keep hope alive.