Christopher M. Jones at the 2001 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration [excerpt]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

PRESENTER: We live in the Mecca of learning and creative thought, right here, right here in Cambridge, right here in Boston. We live in the Mecca of learning and creative thought. The world looks to us for leadership and direction.

So I ask the engineers that are in the room this morning, what is the blueprint for sustainable inclusion? I ask the physicists that are here this morning, what is the Green's function for sustainable inclusion? I ask the medical doctors that woke up early this morning to have breakfast, what is the prescription for sustainable inclusion? I even ask the economist who passed their classes at Sloan, what does the futures market look like for sustainable inclusion?

But I don't stop there. I ask the lawyers, what is the legal precent for sustainable inclusion? I ask the writers, what is the correct sentence structure? Does my subject in my verb agree for sustainable inclusion? I ask the coaches, what is the play for sustainable inclusion?

I ask the ministers, what are the scriptures and prayers for sustainable inclusion? I ask God. I ask God, what is Your will for sustainable inclusion?

Confronting the gap and building and sustaining inclusion is quite achievable. King called it the beloved community. The beloved community. The beloved community. The beloved community.

In this community, our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation. This would be a community where love and justice prevail. Love here is not sentimental affection, but the binding power that holds the universe together.

In this community, we would know that we are tied together in a single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. In this community, we are not judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. Thank you.