Senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam Reverend Dr. Martin Luther ...

Senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speech

Senate Chamber, 8:00PM
January 19th, 2015

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the
most shocking and inhumane.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., NAACP Convention 1965

Mr. President, Members of the Senate, Constituents,
Friends & Family, Good evening,

I would like to give a personal historic perspective to my
speech this evening. I came to this country in late 1960.
As an immigrant born in Jamaica, West Indies, educated
in Jamaica and England. I had heard my whole life about
America—the “greatest country in the world”—and the
land of opportunity. Oh yes, it is the land of
opportunities, I can totally agree! What I discovered early

was that it was not for everyone. Black people—or as we
are now called, African-Americans—in most cases were
not afforded the same opportunities.

The American I married in England came from the
South. My eyes were wide open and my jaws hanging
when I saw the “colored only” signs on my first visit to
North Carolina. I was discouraged by racial
discrimination in employment, housing, department
stores, basic accommodations, lack of blacks in the police
and fire departments, and civil rights in general. [My
husband was one year older than I, and the son of a
sharecropper. At 10 years old on Saturday morning he
was working in the fields picking tobacco and cotton with
his father, brothers, and sisters. They barely could make
it, their everyday struggle was survival. At approximately
the same age, on Saturday morning I was attending
matinee at the Carib Theater in Kingston, Jamaica. My
parents instilled education and service to the community.
Our worlds were totally different. Yes, poverty exists in

Jamaica—a 3rd world country—but I did not expect it to
exist to that degree in America.] Fast forward to June 12,
1963 when Medgar Evers was gunned down. On August
28th, 1963 was the March on Washington. When Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream
speech, he declared “I have a dream that one day…little
black boys and girls will be able to join hands with little
white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” I was
so upset that I could not be at the march because I had a
new baby but it gave me hope to see so many people of
all races standing together on the National Mall in the
name of peace. The theme of the day was “The time of
Civil Rights for all is now.” Shortly after that was the
assassination of John F. Kennedy. Then came the signing
of the Civil Rights Act by LBJ in the presence of MLK,
then the March for the voting rights act in Selma, and then
another MLK led march in Memphis, Tennessee to
support garbage collectors. After giving his famous I
have Been to the Mountain Top Speech where he stated

“my eyes have seen the coming of the lord”, Doctor King
was assassinated the next day. On TV I saw Attorney
General Robert Kennedy holding Coretta Scott King at
the funeral. Two months later, Robert Kennedy was
assassinated as well. What a turbulent and tumultuous
time for anyone to come to this country. My heart was
broken as was that of many Americans—both black and
white.

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. This blessed man of
faith and vision, born January 15th, 1929 for a time as that.
A minister, a preacher of non-violence, a lover of
humankind, an activist for the garbage collectors, the
underprivileged, the disadvantaged, the poor, the
uninsured, he fought for the man who had no voice. He
led the Civil Rights Movement in these United States. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. instilled values towards
community in service. His life and speeches resonated
throughout my young adult life, and many of yours as
well—some of you were not yet born. It has been stated,

that MLK Jr., has been dead longer than he lived. At age
33, he was pressing the case for civil rights with JFK. At
34, he gave his I have a dream speech. At 35 he won the
Nobel Peace Prize. And at 39 on April 4, 1968 he was
assassinated. He was a remarkable man who left a legacy
of nonviolence, hope, and inspiration that is still felt
today. What would he think of the violence worldwide
and in our state and country? Had he lived, he would be
on his knees praying. As the saying goes, I am almost
sure he is turning over in his grave. As a young nurse, I
developed a passion for the underserved, the uninsured,
the poor, the sick, the elderly, the incarcerated, and the
fight for the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities by
reducing the morbidity and mortality rate (disease and
death) in our state and in the nation, and to achieve health
equity. In the late 1970s, I visited the grave of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and sat in his church in Georgia. That
was an awesome feeling.

On June 20th, 1965 Dr. King visited my homeland
Jamaica and delivered a talk at the University of the West
Indies on Facing the Challenges of the New Age. He
spoke about the need to fight any kind of injustice with
love, and a need for us all to strive to be the best that we
can be at whatever we choose to do in our lives. “The
time is always right to do right.” It is worth mentioning
that he also said “of all the places in the world, I feel most
at home in Jamaica among my sisters and brothers.”
[Later that day he visited the grave of Jamaican hero
Marcus Garvey with his wife, Coretta, and later that night
he gave a final speech to a jam-packed standing room
only arena.] Designated in 1983, MLK Day is the only
Federal holiday that honors a private American citizen.

I, like you, have witnessed this continuing struggle
for civil rights and a tragic series of events. As Dr. King
reminded us “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is
“What are we doing for others?” Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. lived a life that mattered. He stated “our lives begin

and end the day we become silent about things that
matter.” We should do no less. I thank you.

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