An Open letter to all Americans,
This is a great day in America and in the world. It brings with it new opportunities, as well as new challenges. It is a time for all of us to come together to support the April 4th Foundation’s founding pillars: Reconciliation, Reaffirmation and Renewal. This is the time for our nation to turn in a new direction of equality and social justice. I refer to this as climbing the ladder of success but the ladder is still shaky and some steps are still missing.
“Climbing the Ladder of Success when the Ladder is Shaky and Some Steps Are Still Missing” makes the journey difficult. But it is our desire to create a better world for this generation and those to follow that propels us to higher no matter how dangerous or tedious the climb. One of the ingredients for success is hard work. Talk to any successful person and they’ll tell you about 60 to 75 hours of work per week is what it takes. I’m sure they’ll tell you about personal sacrifices and those of their family--long days at the office, missed family outings, tight budgets. They may even throw in stories about past failures, expensive mistakes, and days that prayer seemed to be their only hope. Some steps of the ladder were shaky but they continued to follow their dreams, held on to their faith, and continued to climb. Dr. Martin Luther King truly experienced missing steps and his ladder was not only shaky, it was on shaky ground.
Dr. King stated “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem”.
His efforts and those of others helped to make the ground steadier and added a few more reinforced rungs to the ladder. We are grateful for their vision, hard work, and sacrifice. This April 4th, as in previous ones, we will continue to honor those who have made it their life’s goal to never stop climbing.
For the youth of this great nation “Let’s hold the ladder for their future positive endeavors.”
Love embraces peace,
Johnson E. Saulsberry, Jr.