Barack Obama

the scriptur tell us that when joshua and the israelit arriv at the gate of jericho __PUNCT__ thei could not enter __PUNCT__

the wall of the citi were too steep for ani on person to climb __PUNCT__ too strong to be taken down with brute_forc __PUNCT__

and so thei sat for dai __PUNCT__ unabl to pass on through __PUNCT__

but god had a plan for hi peopl __PUNCT__

he told them to stand togeth and march togeth around the citi __PUNCT__ and on the seventh dai he told them that when thei heard the sound of the ram horn __PUNCT__ thei should speak with on voic __PUNCT__

and at the chosen hour __PUNCT__ when the horn sound and a choru of voic cri out togeth __PUNCT__ the mighti wall of jericho came tumbl down __PUNCT__

there ar mani lesson to take from thi passag __PUNCT__ just as there ar mani lesson to take from thi dai __PUNCT__ just as there ar mani memori that fill the space of thi church __PUNCT__

as i wa think about which on we need to rememb at thi hour __PUNCT__ my mind went back to the veri begin of the modern civil right era __PUNCT__

becaus befor memphi and the mountaintop __PUNCT__ befor the bridg in selma and the march on washington __PUNCT__ befor birmingham and the beat __PUNCT__ the fire hose and the loss of those four littl girl __PUNCT__ befor there wa king the icon and hi magnific dream __PUNCT__ there wa king the young preacher and a peopl who found themselv suffer under the yoke of oppress __PUNCT__

and on the ev of the bu boycott in montgomeri __PUNCT__ at a time when mani were still doubt about the possibl of chang __PUNCT__ a time when those in the black_commun mistrust themselv __PUNCT__ and at time mistrust each other __PUNCT__ king inspir with word not of anger __PUNCT__ but of an urgenc that still speak to us todai __PUNCT__

__PUNCT__ uniti is the great need of the hour __PUNCT__ is what king said __PUNCT__

uniti is how we shall overcom __PUNCT__

what dr __PUNCT__ king understood is that if just on person chose to walk instead of ride the bu __PUNCT__ those wall of oppress would not be move __PUNCT__

but mayb if a few more walk __PUNCT__ the foundat might start to shake __PUNCT__

if a few more women were will to do what rosa park had done __PUNCT__ mayb the crack would start to show __PUNCT__

if teenag took freedom ride from north to south __PUNCT__ mayb a few brick would come loos __PUNCT__

mayb if white_folk march becaus thei had come to understand that their freedom too wa at stake in the impend battl __PUNCT__ the wall would begin to swai __PUNCT__

and if enough american were awaken to the injustic __PUNCT__ if thei join togeth __PUNCT__ north and south __PUNCT__ rich and poor __PUNCT__ christian and jew __PUNCT__ then perhap that wall would come tumbl down __PUNCT__ and justic would flow like water __PUNCT__ and righteous like a mighti stream __PUNCT__

uniti is the great need of the hour __PUNCT__ the great need of thi hour __PUNCT__

not becaus it sound pleasant or becaus it make us feel_good __PUNCT__ but becaus it the onli wai we can overcom the essenti deficit that exist in thi countri __PUNCT__

i not talk about a budget_deficit __PUNCT__

i not talk about a trade_deficit __PUNCT__

i not talk about a deficit of good_idea or new plan __PUNCT__

i talk about a moral deficit __PUNCT__

i talk about an empathi deficit __PUNCT__

i take about an inabl to recogn ourselv in on anoth __PUNCT__ to understand that we ar our brother keeper __PUNCT__ we ar our sister keeper __PUNCT__ that __PUNCT__ in the word of dr __PUNCT__ king __PUNCT__ we ar all ti togeth in a singl garment of destini __PUNCT__

we have an empathi deficit when we still send our children down corridor of shame __PUNCT__ school in the forgotten corner of america where the color of your skin still affect the content of your educ __PUNCT__

we have a deficit when ceo ar make more in ten_minut than some worker make in ten_month __PUNCT__ when famili lose their home so that lender make a profit __PUNCT__ when mother can't afford a doctor when their children get sick __PUNCT__

we have a deficit in thi countri when there is scooter libbi justic for some and jena justic for other __PUNCT__ when our children see noos hang from a schoolyard tree todai __PUNCT__ in the present __PUNCT__ in the twenti __PUNCT__ first centuri __PUNCT__

we have a deficit when homeless veteran sleep on the street of our citi __PUNCT__ when innoc ar slaughter in the desert of darfur __PUNCT__ when young_american serv tour after tour of duti in a war that should never been author and never been wage __PUNCT__

and we have a deficit when it take a breach in our leve to reveal a breach in our compass __PUNCT__ when it take a terribl storm to reveal the hungri that god_call on us to feed __PUNCT__ the sick he call on us to care for __PUNCT__ the least of these he command that we treat as our own __PUNCT__

so we have a deficit to close __PUNCT__

we have wall __PUNCT__ barrier to justic and equal __PUNCT__ that must come down __PUNCT__

and to do thi __PUNCT__ we know that uniti is the great need of thi hour __PUNCT__

unfortun __PUNCT__ all too often when we talk about uniti in thi countri __PUNCT__ we come to believ that it can be purchas on the cheap __PUNCT__

we come to believ that racial reconcili can come easili __PUNCT__ that it just a matter of a few ignor peopl trap in the prejudic of the past __PUNCT__ and that if the demagogu and those who exploit our racial_divis will simpli go awai __PUNCT__ then all our problem would be solv __PUNCT__

all too often __PUNCT__ we seek to ignor the profound institut barrier that stand in the wai of ensur opportun for all children __PUNCT__ or decent job for all peopl __PUNCT__ or health_care for those who ar sick __PUNCT__

we long for uniti __PUNCT__ but ar unwil to pai the price __PUNCT__

but of cours __PUNCT__ true uniti cannot be so easili won __PUNCT__

it start with a chang in attitud __PUNCT__ a broaden of our mind __PUNCT__ and a broaden of our heart __PUNCT__

it not easi to stand in somebodi els shoe __PUNCT__

it not easi to see past our differ __PUNCT__

we all encount thi in our own live __PUNCT__

but what make it even more difficult is that we have a polit in thi countri that seek to drive us apart __PUNCT__ that put up wall between us __PUNCT__

we ar told that those who differ from us on a few thing ar differ from us on all thing __PUNCT__ that our problem ar the fault of those who don't think like us or look like us or come from where we do __PUNCT__

the welfar queen is take our tax_monei __PUNCT__

the immigr is take our job __PUNCT__

the believ condemn the non __PUNCT__ believ as immor __PUNCT__ and the non __PUNCT__ believ chide the believ as intoler __PUNCT__

for most of thi countri histori __PUNCT__ we in the african __PUNCT__ american_commun have been at the receiv end of man inhuman to man __PUNCT__

and all of us understand intim the insidi role that race still sometim plai __PUNCT__ on the job __PUNCT__ in the school __PUNCT__ in our health_care_system __PUNCT__ and in our crimin_justic_system __PUNCT__

and yet __PUNCT__ if we ar honest with ourselv __PUNCT__ we must admit that none of our hand ar entir clean __PUNCT__

if we honest with ourselv __PUNCT__ we acknowledg that our own commun ha not alwai been true to king vision of a belov commun __PUNCT__

we have scorn our gai brother and sister instead of embrac them __PUNCT__

the scourg of anti __PUNCT__ semit ha __PUNCT__ at time __PUNCT__ reveal itself in our commun __PUNCT__

for too long __PUNCT__ some of us have seen immigr as competitor for job instead of companion in the fight for opportun __PUNCT__

everi dai __PUNCT__ our polit fuel and exploit thi kind of divis across all race and region __PUNCT__ across gender and parti __PUNCT__

it is plai out on televis __PUNCT__

it is sensation by the media __PUNCT__

and last week __PUNCT__ it even crept into the campaign for presid __PUNCT__ with charg and counter __PUNCT__ charg that serv to obscur the issu instead of illumin the critic choic we face as a nation __PUNCT__

so let us sai that on thi dai of all dai __PUNCT__ each of us carri with us the task of chang our heart and mind __PUNCT__

the divis __PUNCT__ the stereotyp __PUNCT__ the scape __PUNCT__ goat __PUNCT__ the eas with which we blame our plight on other __PUNCT__ all of thi distract us from the common challeng we face __PUNCT__ war and poverti __PUNCT__ injustic and inequ __PUNCT__

we can no longer afford to build ourselv up by tear someon els down __PUNCT__

we can no longer afford to traffic in li or fear or hate __PUNCT__

it is the poison that we must purg from our polit __PUNCT__ the wall that we must tear down befor the hour grow too late __PUNCT__

becaus if dr __PUNCT__ king could love hi jailor __PUNCT__ if he could call on the faith who onc sat where you do to forgiv those who set dog and fire hose upon them __PUNCT__ then sure we can look past what divid us in our time __PUNCT__ and bind up our wound __PUNCT__ and eras the empathi deficit that exist in our heart __PUNCT__

but if chang our heart and mind is the first critic step __PUNCT__ we cannot stop there __PUNCT__

it is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor_children in thi countri and remain unwil to push our elect_offici to provid the resourc to fix our school __PUNCT__

it is not enough to decri the dispar of health_care and yet allow the insur_compani and the drug_compani to block much __PUNCT__ need reform __PUNCT__

it is not enough for us to abhor the cost of a misguid war __PUNCT__ and yet allow ourselv to be driven by a polit of fear that see the threat of attack as wai to scare up vote instead of a call to come togeth around a common effort __PUNCT__

the scriptur tell us that we ar judg not just by word __PUNCT__ but by deed __PUNCT__

and if we ar to truli bring about the uniti that is so crucial in thi time __PUNCT__ we must find it within ourselv to act on what we know __PUNCT__ to understand that live up to thi countri ideal and it possibl will requir great effort and resourc __PUNCT__ sacrific and stamina __PUNCT__

and that is what is at stake in the great polit_debat we ar have todai __PUNCT__

the chang that ar need ar not just a matter of tinker at the edg __PUNCT__ and thei will not come if politician simpli tell us what we want to hear __PUNCT__

all of us will be call upon to make some sacrific __PUNCT__

none of us will be exempt from respons __PUNCT__

we will have to fight to fix our school __PUNCT__ but we will also have to challeng ourselv to be better parent __PUNCT__

we will have to confront the bias in our crimin_justic_system __PUNCT__ but we will also have to acknowledg the deep __PUNCT__ seat violenc that still resid in our own commun and marshal the will to break it grip __PUNCT__

that is how we will bring about the chang we seek __PUNCT__

that is how dr __PUNCT__ king led thi countri through the wilder __PUNCT__

he did it with word __PUNCT__ word that he spoke not just to the children of slave __PUNCT__ but the children of slave owner __PUNCT__

word that inspir not just black but also white __PUNCT__ not just the christian but the jew __PUNCT__ not just the southern but also the northern __PUNCT__

he led with word __PUNCT__ but he also led with deed __PUNCT__

he also led by exampl __PUNCT__

he led by march and go to jail and suffer threat and be awai from hi famili __PUNCT__

he led by take a stand against a war __PUNCT__ know full well that it would diminish hi popular __PUNCT__

he led by challeng our econom_structur __PUNCT__ understand that it would caus discomfort __PUNCT__

dr __PUNCT__ king understood that uniti cannot be won on the cheap __PUNCT__ that we would have to earn it through great effort and determin __PUNCT__

that is the uniti __PUNCT__ the hard __PUNCT__ earn uniti __PUNCT__ that we need right now __PUNCT__

it is that effort __PUNCT__ and that determin __PUNCT__ that can transform blind optim into hope __PUNCT__ the hope to imagin __PUNCT__ and work for __PUNCT__ and fight for what seem imposs befor __PUNCT__

the stori that give me such hope don't happen in the spotlight __PUNCT__

thei don't happen on the presidenti stage __PUNCT__

thei happen in the quiet corner of our live __PUNCT__

thei happen in the moment we least expect __PUNCT__

let me give you an exampl of on of those stori __PUNCT__

there is a young __PUNCT__ twenti __PUNCT__ three year old white_woman name ashlei baia who organ for our campaign in florenc __PUNCT__ south_carolina __PUNCT__

she been work to organ a mostli african __PUNCT__ american_commun sinc the begin of thi campaign __PUNCT__ and the other dai she wa at a roundtabl discuss where everyon went around tell their stori and why thei were there __PUNCT__

and ashlei said that when she wa nine year old __PUNCT__ her mother got cancer __PUNCT__

and becaus she had to miss dai of work __PUNCT__ she wa let go and lost her health_care __PUNCT__

thei had to file for bankruptci __PUNCT__ and that when ashlei decid that she had to do someth to help her mom __PUNCT__

she knew that food wa on of their most expens cost __PUNCT__ and so ashlei convinc her mother that what she realli like and realli want to eat more than anyth els wa mustard and relish sandwich __PUNCT__

becaus that wa the cheapest wai to eat __PUNCT__

she did thi for a year until her mom got better __PUNCT__ and she told everyon at the roundtabl that the reason she join our campaign wa so that she could help the million of other children in the countri who want and need to help their parent too __PUNCT__

so ashlei finish her stori and then goe around the room and ask everyon els why thei support the campaign __PUNCT__

thei all have differ stori and reason __PUNCT__

mani bring up a specif issu __PUNCT__

and final thei come to thi elderli black_man who been sit there quietli the entir time __PUNCT__

and ashlei ask him why he there __PUNCT__

and he doe not bring up a specif issu __PUNCT__

he doe not sai health_care or the economi __PUNCT__

he doe not sai educ or the war __PUNCT__

he doe not sai that he wa there becaus of barack_obama __PUNCT__

he simpli sai to everyon in the room __PUNCT__ i am here becaus of ashlei __PUNCT__

by itself __PUNCT__ that singl_moment of recognit between that young white girl and that old black_man is not enough __PUNCT__

it is not enough to give health_care to the sick __PUNCT__ or job to the jobless __PUNCT__ or educ to our children __PUNCT__

but it is where we begin __PUNCT__

it is why the wall in that room began to crack and shake __PUNCT__

and if thei can shake in that room __PUNCT__ thei can shake in atlanta __PUNCT__

and if thei can shake in atlanta __PUNCT__ thei can shake in georgia __PUNCT__

and if thei can shake in georgia __PUNCT__ thei can shake all across america __PUNCT__

and if enough of our voic join togeth __PUNCT__ we can bring those wall tumbl down __PUNCT__

the wall of jericho can final come tumbl down __PUNCT__

that is our hope __PUNCT__ but onli if we prai togeth __PUNCT__ and work togeth __PUNCT__ and march togeth __PUNCT__

brother and sister __PUNCT__ we cannot walk alon __PUNCT__

in the struggl for peac and justic __PUNCT__ we cannot walk alon __PUNCT__

in the struggl for opportun and equal __PUNCT__ we cannot walk alon __PUNCT__

in the struggl to heal thi nation and repair thi world __PUNCT__ we cannot walk alon __PUNCT__

so i ask you to walk with me __PUNCT__ and march with me __PUNCT__ and join your voic with mine __PUNCT__ and togeth we will sing the song that tear down the wall that divid us __PUNCT__ and lift up an america that is truli indivis __PUNCT__ with liberti __PUNCT__ and justic __PUNCT__ for all __PUNCT__

mai god_bless the memori of the great pastor of thi church __PUNCT__ and mai god bless the unit_state of america __PUNCT__