Full text of speech by Martin Luther King III, at the opening event of U.S. Embassy MLK Exhibit, Colombo on Feb 6, 2010:

Realizing the Dream, Inc.
Sri Lanka: U.S. Embassy MLK Exhibit
by Martin Luther King III

When the U.S. Embassy invited me to come to Sri Lanka and inaugurate an exhibit commemorating the legacy of my father, I was both honored and humbled. In recent years I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to speak about my father around the world—about who he was, and about how his message of peace and nonviolence is meaningful for people everywhere – regardless of country, culture or faith.

Standing here today, half way around the world from home, I can’t help but think about one of my father’s most well-known quotations; he said “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied together in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. There is an unavoidable interdependence among the human family.”

He went on to say that “I can never be what I ought to be, until you are what you ought to be.” What he meant, was that as long as someone in the world is poor, I can never be rich, no matter where I live. He meant that as long as someone in Africa, or South America, or Sri Lanka, is suffering from violence, I can never be at peace, no matter where I’m from.

He meant that achieving a more peaceful and equitable world is something we must all work for together. He had a vision about creating a world where people of every race, religion and nation could live together in peace as brothers and sisters. He called this idea the “Beloved Community”—a dream of a place and time where society is at peace with itself, and citizens from all backgrounds are treated as equal human beings. In his vision, it is a place where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

In the beloved community, all forms of violence—discrimination, prejudice, poverty, war—are replaced by peace, justice, equality and community.

In the beloved community, disputes are resolved by peaceful negotiation between adversaries. In the beloved community, love and trust triumph over hatred and fear. Peace prevails over violence. And the “midnight of desperation” succumbs to the “daybreak of joy.”

It is a vision that knows no boundaries of race, religion or place. It’s not an impossible, utopian dream, but a state of heart and mind, a spirit of hope and goodwill that transcends all barriers and builds a world where our children can achieve prosperity and peace. It is not a place reserved for only one people, but for all peoples—rich and poor; Christian and Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist; white, black and brown.

As we all know, the more difficult issue is, “how do we get there?” My father believed that the answer to that question is simple: through nonviolence.

Like most people, he had his doubts at first. He thought, “Nonviolence may be a nice idea, but can it really work against brute physical force?” Well, like Gandhi before him and so many others after him, he proved that it can. He proved that it is possible to overcome difficulties and achieve harmony through active, peaceful means.

For him the words of the Mahatma, who said “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” Like my father, Gandhi knew that violence simply doesn’t work. It only begets more violence, and leaves you captive in its vicious cycle.

When he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, my father made sure to tell the audience that violence is ineffective not only because it’s immoral, but because it’s impractical too. “It is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.” Simply stated, violence” ends up defeating itself.”

The vision of nonviolence is what my parents dedicated their lives to, and it is just as relevant today as it was then. It is also what caused me to found my organization, Realizing the Dream, which is dedicated to continuing their work in places around the world. We have several different programs, all of which are devoted to fighting poverty, prejudice and injustice; and to fostering peace through nonviolence.

One of our flagship programs is the Generation II Peacebuilders program. Gen II brings together the heirs of some of the most prominent peacebuilders and nonviolent leaders of the world. Tushar Gandhi, …Tutu, …..Mandela….are a few of the names among this group of next generation peacebuilders that have joined hands with me to build on the legacy of our parents. Being a second generation peacemaker does not take being the son or daughter of a famous leader. It only takes a person committed to peace, and willing to act to achieve it. It only takes a heart committed to peace, and a mind committed to acting on it. The world needs all of us to be the next generation of peacebuilders.

That’s just one of the things that Realizing the Dream is doing. We also have other projects in Eastern Europe, Africa and the United States, and for the past few months we’ve been building new relationships in Sri Lanka as well. We’re hoping that my father was right when he said that “he is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

Forgiveness may be difficult, because there’s always an instinct for retribution. There’s always an initial desire for revenge. But, Gandhi and my father taught us something different. They taught us that there’s a better way—nonviolence.

We’re hoping that the philosophy of nonviolence and love can help play some role in bringing this beautiful island together again in long-term peace and brotherhood—that Sri Lanka can one day be the Beloved Community. I’m proud to be here today to open this exhibit with the U.S. Embassy, and I’m proud to say that I now consider the Sri Lankan people – all its people – my friends.

Thank you.