Rosa Parks

And still here at this heart of our struggle, our history is afforded but only one celebrated month at February. Frederick Douglas counted every day a day of Black History until freedom rang . . . until that sublime day on January 1, 1863 at the Civil War where the Emancipation Proclamation came. Nearly one hundred years later at the next early light, Rosa Louise Parks, the lady legend of African American freedom, gave all she had to be who she was, and to cry out for honor of her people. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well epitomized Black History. His dream at the mountain top wrote his greatest story. Martin counted every face of color, the Black, Brown, Yellow, the Red and White. A story of Nobel glory . . . and for that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life.

And then too, the great Josiah Henson and Harriet Tubman, the lady whom they called Moses, counted every face of color at the famed Underground Railroad. They counted every colored slave whom they led on and on to freedom. Harriet and Josiah wrote our Black History running slaves north by the North Star. Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice and Barbara Jordan, the grand lady from Texas, spoke eloquent words against racism that will ever live on. And here now, these younger African American people, Jesse Louis Jackson, Maxine Waters, and Sheila Jackson Lee are counting as well. They're standing here, in your face, counting every face of color. Here we stand, y'all, at this valley of rich history, here at this fabled twenty-first century. We have walked on with our struggle way longer than the one glorious month set apart to honor Black History. Yet at this portal of time, here at this mountain crest, America must face the truth. Truth, y'all, is equality! The color of a colored face must never stand us apart. Here we stand with our legacy blending together into a fusion of racial respect. And so truth will never betray tomorrow. Here on this partisan battlefield, a Supreme Court might stop the count. But it will never stop Sojourner Truth. Sojourner and Shirley Chisholm, will scream at every town hall until they count every face of color.

Then now, President Barack and Michelle Obama two beautiful young lovers, singing Rosa Park's song, "If We Dream" will always be here. Thurgood Marshall and President Lyndon B. Johnson, who appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court and pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress will stay here. Mr. Frederick Douglas and even Mr. Abraham Lincoln will be here as well. They will stay here for every freedom celebration, and they will be here for the next civil rights emancipation. They will stand here forevermore. They will always be here at America to scream and yell and tell this story about Black History.

And so . . . together we touch this glorious moment standing here with Michelle and President Barack Obama. Suddenly we all share, this historic debut, amidst . . . the legendary faces.