Obama: ‘What a Glorious Task ... To Continually Try To Improve This Great Nation’
BARACK OBAMA: "America is not some fragile thing. We are large in the words of Whitman. Containing multitudes. We are boisterous and diverse and full of energy perpetually young in spirit. That's why someone like John Lewis at their ripe old age of 25 could lead a March. And that's what the young people here today and listening all across the country must take away from this day. You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is because you're ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country there are first steps to be taken. There's new ground to cover. There are more bridges to be crossed. And it is you, the young and fearless at heart. The most diverse and educated generation in our history who the nation is waiting to follow.
"Because Selma shows us that America's not the project of any one person. Because the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word we. We the people. We shall overcome. Yes, we can. That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone! Oh, what a glorious task we are given. To continually try to improve this great nation of ours. 50 years from bloody Sunday, our March is not yet finished. But we're getting closer. 239 years after this nation's founding, our union is not yet perfect. But we are getting closer. Our job is easier because somebody already got us through that first mile. Somebody already got us over that bridge.
"When it feels the road's too hard. When the torch we've been passed feels too heavy. We will remember these early travelers and draw strength from their example and hold firmly to the words of the prophet Isaiah. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles and run and not grow weary and walk and not be! We honored those who walked so we could run. We must run so our children soar! And we will not grow weary for we believe in the power of an awesome God and we believe in this country's sacred promise! May He bless those warriors of justice no longer with us and bless the United States of America. Thank you, everybody."
