The Mount Vernon Way: Rise Up and Reap the Dream
This weekend, Mayor Richard Thomas addressed Grace Baptist Church in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy of service and advocacy for civil rights. Below are remarks as prepared for delivery.
My pastor told me that every setback is a setup for something greater. And he prophesized that our current situation is preparing us for something greater.
To those that rode the back of the bus and remember that feeling when it became our right to sit up front, thank you. Thank you for your dedication and century of sacrifice.
The past decade has born witness to a tremendous amount of change. My generation went from occupying classrooms to occupying boardrooms to occupying Wall Street to now taking our place at the head of the table. We went from Kodak cameras to camera phones. From Yearbooks to Facebook. From Discmans to iPods. VHS to DVR. Hi-Fi to Wi-fi. From Dean’s List to Craigslist.
We experienced transformative change. And while we can point to some advancements, we can see many more setbacks. A torrent of vulgarity sweeping the land. A storm of internet trolls colluding to impugn reputations and sway elections. A tax cut for the rich and a tax hike for the poor. A series of unfortunate events from race riots to the “least racist we know” running the White House.
In Psalm 140, the Lord’s Prayer affirms that “Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.” This is why, during these stressful times, we must put our faith in action to bring peace upon our hearts, minds, and spirit.
Mount Vernon — my challenge to you is: Rise Up. I am calling on all elected, anointed, self-appointed, rich and poor to Rise Up and sign the petition (http://chn.ge/2myST30) calling on Donald Trump, the President of these United States to be a man and apologize for his “shut the front door” remark about our brothers, sisters, aunts and cousins, our friends, our neighbors and those simply struggling in Haiti, Africa, and here in Mount Vernon, NY.
2018 represents a new beginning. It is the year where we Rise from the ashes. And last night, on the horrific anniversary of burying our stolen daughter Shamoya McKenzie, her house burnt down. And despite losing everything again, her mother Nadene is still praising the Lord. Telling the devil that he can’t steal her faith.
I told Nadene that Mount Vernon is going to be there for her, because her story is our story. Her situation is our situation.
We lost our children the moment we started to accept less and have come to a place where we expect less. This year is our year to Rise Up and Reap the Dream.
Prove the historians wrong. Clean up our waterfront. Fix our downtown. Get guns off our streets. Get drugs off our streets. Get more crime off our streets. Get the grime off our streets. So, we can see our children shine on these streets. Bring back youth sports. Bring back Memorial Field. Bring back the love that Dr. King had to trump the hate that we now have. Take back our city. Take back our country. Take back our future.
Rise Up. Show the president that the power is with people. Rise Up. Show the region that we believe Memorial Field will Rise Up. Show the world that Mount Vernon is ready to Rise Up.
As we honor Dr. King and his legacy, the City of Mount Vernon is encouraging folks to stand, together united and to focus on serving others. To become part of the movement, email MayorThomas@cmnvy.com, call us at 914–655–2361, or sign our change.org petition at http://chn.ge/2myST30.
Originally Published in Westchester County Press — January 16, 2018
