2AFRIKA, INC. PAYS RESPECT TO MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. – a message from 2AFRIKA’s Founder & President, Kenneth R. Hieber

MONDAY, JANUARY 19TH, 2009
NEW YORK, NY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“There can be no denying the fact that today is an extremely emotional day for me” said 2AFRIKA’s Founder & President, Kenneth R. Hieber in his ONE VOICE FROM AFRICA podcast. “In my lifetime, I have witnessed several life-altering historical events. From being huddled around the wireless back in Africa and hearing ‘The Eagle Has Landed’ in 1969 to fleeing from the horror of 9/11 in 2001, nothing has touched me more significantly than witnessing the inauguration of President Nelson R. Mandela as the first black President of my country, South Africa and as I eagerly await tomorrow when Barack H. Obama becomes the first Africa-American President of the United States of America, I feel a sense of pride at being a part of this great nation. And so today, as all of us here in the United States of America pay our respect to Martin Luther King Jr. who would have turned 80 years old today, I remind myself of the well known I HAVE A DREAM speech and wonder, just for a moment, how Dr. King might have felt about tomorrow’s historic inauguration were it not that his life was stolen from him at such a young age.”

As a global audience awaits the inauguration of president elect Barack H. Obama, let us remind ourselves of the events of August 28th, 1963 and the words of wisdom as delivered by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

For further information on this Blog post or any Safari in the 2AFRIKA Experience, visit us online at 2afrika.com or contact 2AFRIKA, INC. Founder & President Kenneth R. Hieber on (212) 385-9770 (EST)

2AFRIKA, INC. remains committed to Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism