00:00Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. It's a real pleasure for me to look out over this crowd and be, once again, a proud member of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
00:21I want to thank you, Tim, for the friendship we shared when you served in the Congress. I was so pleased to go out to Minnesota. I told a group earlier, I don't know why he did this. I guess it's because my background is also as a high school history teacher.
00:44But I got this call from Tim Walsh asking me to come to Minnesota and help him in a district that I don't think a Democrat has been there for a century.
00:56And I don't mind going to Minnesota if it's in July. I went there in October. And I don't know if I've ever been as cold as I was, but campaigning with him and his lovely wife was one of those great experiences of my life.
01:23Thank you for being here with us tonight. We look forward to hearing from you tomorrow. I don't know if you've got anything left to say, but we look forward to it.
01:30Wes, where's Wes Moore? Thank you. Well, there he is. Thank you for responding to Crystal's invitation to be here.
01:42Now, I'm saying that tonight. Of course, Crystal told me that she had issued the invitation, but she was expecting me to deliver.
01:57And thank you so much for responding to Crystal's plan. She is providing magnificent leadership for this part of us. Thank you.
02:10Jamie, thank you. You have been a part of my life since you were, what, 11th grader at Orangeburg Wilkinson High School.
02:24I often tell the story of Jamie Harrison calling me when he got elected president of his honor society. And he thought it was fitting and proper for his congressman to come and swear him in.
02:39I just thought that if there's some little whippersnapper that's got enough guts to make such a request, I would have enough guts to honor it.
02:54And I've been trying to get rid of him ever since. Thank you for the leadership you've given to the South Carolina Party, to our national party.
03:06And I know that the book is still open on Jamie Harrison. Thank you so very, very much.
03:18Governor, thank you for your leadership.
03:23Now, our most recent Democratic governor is in a very special place these days. I want to keep him close because he has become a real powerhouse in this country.
03:42And I thank him so much. So thank you for being here tonight as well.
03:49Mayor Benjamin, good to see you back. I was looking for you all weekend and I heard you were out of the country.
03:56Good to see you back. You and I need to spend some time together in the next several days.
04:03But thank you for your leadership. Now, I'm on the program for tomorrow.
04:10And so I'm not going to prolong this speech because I'm looking forward to getting to the first round.
04:22But I want to hear from Westmore. But I want to leave you with something.
04:26I had it all in my head what I was going to say tonight until Governor Walz spoke.
04:38Back in 1963, many of you know that John Lewis and I met as 19-year-old college students.
04:48We were founding members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
04:55And we met at our second meeting in October of 1960.
05:03And three years after that, we had an incident to occur in Birmingham, Alabama.
05:15And Martin Luther King, Jr. went to Birmingham to assist the people who were trying to get off the back of the bus.
05:28And while he was sitting in jail having been arrested, King got a letter from eight clergymen,
05:39one of whom had South Carolina connections.
05:42And they sent him this letter and said to him,
05:47Dr. King, we want you to leave Birmingham.
05:52We think that you are being a disruptive force.
05:58And then they went on to say to him,
06:03Now don't get us wrong.
06:06We believe in your cause.
06:08We just believe that your timing is wrong.
06:13When King read that letter,
06:19he sat down to answer it.
06:22And many of you may know they would not give him paper to write on.
06:28And so he began to answer that letter using the margins of the newspaper,
06:39which he smuggled out of the jail.
06:44And King wrote four words in that letter that I want to share with you tonight.
06:55He said, you know, you are telling me that the time is not right.
07:02But let me say to you.
07:06Four words.
07:09Time itself is neutral.
07:14Time is never right.
07:18Time is never wrong.
07:22Time is always what we make it.
07:29And then he went on to write,
07:32I am coming to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society
07:39are making a much better use of time than the people of good will.
07:44That's what has gotten us to where we are today.
07:51Last November,
07:56the people of ill will
07:59made much better use of their time
08:03than the people of good will.
08:06good will.
08:07That's what has gotten us to where we are today.
08:13While we're wasting time
08:16finding some fault in somebody else.
08:22While we're wasting time
08:27worried about who gets the credit.
08:34The people of ill will
08:36were concentrating on
08:39the November elections.
08:42And they made very good use of their time.
08:46And then King completed his thought
08:51on that subject
08:53right in these words.
08:55We are going to made to repent
08:59in this generation.
09:02Not just for the vitriotic words
09:05and actions
09:09for the bad people.
09:13But for the appalling silence
09:16of good people.
09:25When you leave here
09:27this weekend,
09:30we must go back to our communities.
09:34And we must break our silence.
09:40The loudest voice
09:43that you've got
09:45is your vote.
09:51And so I thank all of you for being here.
09:54And y'all are going to hear more from me tomorrow.
09:59But tonight,
10:01please,
10:03when you listen to this
10:05prolific speaker,
10:08outstanding gentleman,
10:11don't leave it in here.
10:14Take it home with you.
Comments