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It has become an American tradition to hold the third Monday in January as a day to commemorate the life and work of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. That tradition was continued and, also as now traditional, given recognition by the instruments of the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States, the text of which follows below. The proclamation provided a space where the President could attempt to align his program of domestic policy and governance with those ideals and principles he extracted from and interpreted from the work and like of the Reverend Dr. King. The focus was, as it has been for many members of the contemporary elite--on the wrestling with the signification of the term "justice" and its manifestation as an ideal form suitable for application to the historically situated context of the United States. That has always been both a dynamic process and one with respect to which, at least at its margins, remains hotly contested, both with respect to the meaning of the principle "justice" and the authentic way in which governmental, social and economic power ought to be bent toward the realization of its ideal form. That this has become a central element of the politics of the United States, and that it has, to some extent, centered what passes for the construction, consequences, and utilization of another meaning-object, race, the construction and deployment of which remains a work in progress, might well have pleased the Rev. Dr. King. The effort, and its contestation in the political sphere, certainly honors his memory and pushed forward the essence of his work.
This year the President did more than issue the traditional proclamation. "Joe Biden delivered a sermon on Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, becoming the first sitting president to do so at the church where Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor." (Biden becomes the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday sermon at MLK's church). The sermon was preached before dignitaries and congregants gathered for this special Sunday service. The text of the sermon follows below and is well worth reading.
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Mr. Biden does seem to be at his best when he is preaching. And this is a good example of the power and discursive style of American style sermons now heading into the 21st century. The entire sermon is quite revealing and also in its own way honors the memory of the Rev. Dr. King. Personally noteworthy were these brief points:
1. The personification of principle through the incarnation or manifestation of a (not the) holy spirit serves as a central element of the positioning of the sermon. Incarnation and the role of the divine messenger is an old trope in religions discourse and practice. And it remains a powerful one. It has been a long time since religious culture moves from the centrality of the divine and remote kingship to that of the personality of the messenger and the martyr. That continues to resonate and aligns with cultures of individual (free) will and its relationship with and as a manifestation of divine will or order. In that context the early invocation of Moses, Joseph, and John the Baptist, is telling, even if one quibbles about the choices of essentialization (as symbol representation of making flesh of divine inspiration, of dreaming, and of witness to a closer alignment with divine and unalterable principle)..
2. The imagery of the warrior, in this case the justice warrior, is never far from the discursive tropes of religious preaching--or its secular manifestation in the work of ideologically committed reformer. And thus the Rev, Dr. King becomes the justice warrior. While this aligns with the times, it does reduce perhaps one of the Rev. Dr. King's most divinely aligned imagery. That focuses not on the traits and imagery of the warrior, but rather on ἀγάπη (agápē), the love that binds the divine to the human, and caritas (charity in its broadest sense). It is from the reservoir of strength that is love and charity, that it might be possible to manifest that sort of love among humans and for the natural world within which humanity lives. (Matthew 5:43-46).
3. But we are, it seems, a nation at war on the battlefields of which the Rev. Dr. King was martyred.
What — what is the soul of America? Easy to say, but what is the soul of America? Well, the soul is the breath, the life, the essence of who we are. The soul makes us “us.” The soul of America is embodied in the sacred proposition that we’re all created equal in the image of God. That was the sacred proposition for which — for which Dr. King gave his life. . . And the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It’s a constant struggle. It’s a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice against those who traffic in racism, extremism, and insurrection; a battle fought on battlefields and bridges, from courthouses and ballot boxes, to pulpits and protests. (Biden Sermon, supra).
It is only on the battlefield, then, that caritas and agape may be revealed: "And that joy comes with the commandments of Scripture and the Sermon on the Mount: “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul.” And “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” Yet one is also reminded of another way, one perhaps also reflected in much of the work of the Rev. Dr. King, and for the Catholic faithful articulated in Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (2005) (considered in Values Economics and Theology: The Contribution of Catholic Social Thought and its Implications for Legal Regulatory Systems). In this respect, the reference to Micah 6:8 ("He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?") suggests the tenor of the times within which meaning is extracted from the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr King. But it is also well to remember what comes after (Micah 6:9-16) promising desolation to the wicked who do not reform. In the words of the President's sermon:
Dr. Martin Luther King was born into a nation where segregation was a tragic fact of life. He had every reason to believe, as others of the generation did, that history had already been written, that the division would be America’s destiny. But he rejected that outcome. He heard Micah’s command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. . . Every generation is required to keep it, defend it, protect it, to be repairers of the breach, and to remember that the power to redeem the soul of America lies where it always has lie — lay: in the hands of “We the People.”(Biden, Sermon, supra).
It is to the understanding of these terms and to the great unending conversations, warring, love, and charity that those who strive for solidarity will continue to struggle. It is in that perhaps that a kernel of divine inspiration descends onto the text of this sermon.
A Proclamation on Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2023
Today, we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by continuing his unfinished work to redeem the soul of America.
Dr. King came of age in the South during a time when racial discrimination was the law of the land. Black Americans risked jail time for accessing public accommodations like drinking fountains, parks, restrooms, restaurants, and hotels. Their voting rights were denied by complicated, onerous, and discriminatory rules. Even if they attempted to register to vote, they could be fired from their jobs, be run off of their farms, or face vigilante violence.
Dr. King imagined a different future for America — an America he called the “Beloved Community.” Building the Beloved Community required a key shift in human understanding. It meant looking beyond external differences to see the union of all humankind. It also meant finding a way to deal with our grievances without animosity, in a way that recognized the interconnectedness of all humanity and allowed us to move forward together.
From the pulpit to the podium to the streets, Dr. King devoted his life to the quest for this Beloved Community in our Nation. His activism and moral authority helped usher in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He gave a voice to the restless spirit of millions yearning for change. He gave us a roadmap to unify, to heal, and to sustain the blessings of the Nation to all of its people.
But the work continues because it remains unfinished. That is why my Administration has called on the Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act to ensure that every citizen has a voice in deciding our future.
In keeping with Dr. King’s campaign for economic justice and the rights of workers, my Administration is striving to make the American Dream a reality for every family. By creating good-paying jobs, investing in the middle class, improving access to affordable housing and quality education, and closing the racial and gender wealth gaps, we can give hardworking families the dignity Dr. King would say they deserve.
Dr. King called for greater fairness in our health care system, and my Administration is pushing to put quality, affordable health care within reach of all people — especially the most vulnerable and marginalized Americans. By lowering costs and improving access, we can make health care a right and not just a privilege.
Dr. King preached that “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” In his memory, we strive to challenge violence and bigotry with grace and goodness. We work to embed equity and opportunity into all of the Federal Government’s policies and programs. And we serve to bring together a Nation in our dedication to these ideals.
This Sunday, I will pay my respects and express my gratitude for his life and legacy by speaking at services at his cherished Ebenezer Baptist Church. On this day of commemoration, service, and action, let us hold up a mirror to America and ask ourselves: What kind of country do we want to be? Will we honor Dr. King’s legacy by rising together — buttressed by each other’s successes, enriched by each other’s differences, and made whole by each other’s compassion? I believe we can. It will require constant care for our democracy, stubborn faith in this great experiment, and a commitment to stamping out discrimination in all forms. It will demand honest reflection about how far we have come and how far we have yet to go to be the best version of ourselves. But like Dr. King, I know that there is nothing beyond this Nation’s capacity and that we will fulfill the promise of America for all Americans — perfecting the Union we love and must protect.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Monday, January 16, 2023, as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate civic, community, and service projects in honor of Dr. King and to visit MLKDay.gov to find Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service projects across our country.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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January 16, 2023
Remarks by President Biden Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Atlanta, Georgia
11:45 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but this is intimidating following. (Laughter and applause.) You all are incredible.
I — (applause) — and let’s lay one thing to rest. I may be a practicing Catholic — we used to go to 7:30 mass every morning, in high school and going into college, before I went to the Black church. (Laughter.) Not a joke. Andy knows this.
Andy, it’s so great to see you, man. You’re one of the greatest we’ve ever had. You really are, Andy. (Applause.)
Andy and I took on apartheid in South Africa and a whole lot else. They didn’t want to see him coming. (Laughter.)
But we used to — that’s where we’d organize to march to desegregate the city. My state was, like yours, segregated by law. We were a slave state, to our great shame. And we had a lot of leftovers of the bad things that come from that period of time. But I — any rate, that’s another time. (Laughter.) But I learned a lot.
And I promise, if any preacher preached to me back then, I’m not going to be nearly as long as you were. (Laughter.) Actually, I have a bad reputation for speaking too long.
He followed the path of Moses, a leader of inspiration, calling on the people not to be afraid and to always, always, as my grandfather would say, “keep the faith.”
He followed the path of Joseph. A believer in dreams, in the divinity they carry, in the promise they hold.
And like John the Baptist, he prepared us for the greater hope ahead, one who came to bear witness to the light.
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a nonviolent warrior for justice who followed the word and the way of His Lord and His Savior.
On this day of remembrance, we gather at Dr. King’s cherished Ebenezer. I say — I emphasize the word “cherished” Ebenezer. And, by the way, his sis: Every good man, every good brother needs a really strong, strong sister. (Applause.) You think I’m kidding.
I’m no Dr. King, and my sister is not you, but I’ll tell you what: She’s smarter, better looking, and a better person than I am. (Laughter.) Managed all my campaigns.
Folks, you know, on this day of remembrance, as we gather here at this cherished Ebenezer to commemorate what would’ve been Dr. King’s 94th birthday, we gather to contemplate his moral vision and to commit ourselves to his path — to his path. The path that leads to the “Beloved Community,” to the sacred place and that sacred hour when justice rains down like waters and righteousness was a mighty stream.
Folks, to the King family, I know no matter how many years pass — it doesn’t matter how many years pass — those days of remembrance are difficult. They bring everything back as if it happened yesterday. It’s hard for you.
And I want to thank the King family — presumptuous of me to do this, but on behalf of the whole congregation — for being willing to do this year in and year out, because you give so much — so much to the rest of us. And we love you all. We love you all. (Applause.)
To fully honor Dr. King, we have to pay tribute to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, who we dearly miss. (Applause.) She led the movement that created the King holiday and so much more. In my view, this day is her day as well. (Applause.)
And to Raphael Warnock — a reverend, a doctor, a senator — (applause) — congratulations on your historic victory. (Applause.)
A fellow Morehouse man. (Applause). I’ve come to know a lot of Morehouse men. (Laughter.) That old saying, “You can’t tell them much.” (Laughter.) But I tell you what — we’ve set up, for the first time ever at the White House, a Divine Nine committee. It’s active every day. (Applause.) And I watch how the other graduates pick on the Morehouse men.
You stand in Dr. King’s pulpit, and you carry on his purpose. And this service doesn’t stop at the church door. It didn’t with Dr. King, it doesn’t with you, and it doesn’t with the vast majority of you standing — sitting before me.
I want to thank you for the honor of inviting me to be call to America’s — “America’s freedom church”.
And thank you to this congregation and to all the distinguished guests, elected and unelected officials that are here today who’ve done so much over so many years. And so many young people are going to do so much more than we were able to do. (Applause.)
What’s your name honey? (Gestures to girl in front row.) Well, it’s good to see you. Maybe I can have a picture with you when I — before I leave, okay? Is that all right?
AUDIENCE: Aww. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I say this with all sincerity: I stand here humbled being the first sitting President of the United States to have an opportunity to speak at Ebenezer Sunday service. You’ve been around for 136 years. I know I look like it, but I haven’t. (Laughter.)
I’m God-fearing thanks to my parents and to the nuns and priests who taught me in school, but I — I am no preacher. But I’ve tried to walk my faith, as all of you have.
I stand here inspired by the preacher who was one of my only political heroes. I’ve been saying — and Andy’s heard me say it for years — I have two political heroes my entire life when I started off as a 22-year-old kid in the East Side as — in the Civil Rights Movement, and got elected to the United States Senate when I was 29. I wasn’t old enough to take office.
And I had two heroes: Bobby Kennedy — I admired John Kennedy, but I could never picture him at my kitchen table, but I could Bobby — And, no malarkey, Dr. King. Dr. King.
And the fact is that, you know, I stand here at a critical juncture for the United States and the world, in my view.
We’re at a what I — some of my colleagues are tired of hearing me saying — but we’re at what we call an “inflection point,” one of those points in world history where what happens in the last few years and will happen in the next 6 or 8 years, they’re going to determine what the world looks like the next 30 to 40 years.
It happened after World War Two. It’s happening again. The world is changing. There’s much at stake. Much at stake. And, you know, the fact is that this is the time of choosing. This is the time of choosing direct choices we have.
Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy? Couldn’t ask that question 15 years ago. Everyone thought democracy was settled. Not for African Americans. But democracy, as an institutional structure, was settled. But it’s not. It’s not.
We have to choose a community over chaos. Are we the people who are going to choose love over hate? These are the vital questions of our time and the reason why I’m here as your President. I believe Dr. King’s life and legacy show us the way we should pay attention. I really do. (Applause.)
Dr. Martin Luther King was born into a nation where segregation was a tragic fact of life. He had every reason to believe, as others of the generation did, that history had already been written, that the division would be America’s destiny. But he rejected that outcome. He heard Micah’s command to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.
And so, often, when people hear about Dr. King, people think of his ministry and the movement, or most about the epic struggle for civil rights and voting rights. But we do well to remember that his mission was something even deeper. It was spiritual. It was moral.
The goal of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which Dr. King led, stated it clearly and boldly, and it must be repeated again, now: to redeem the soul of America. (Applause.) I’m not joking. To redeem the soul of America.
What — what is the soul of America? Easy to say, but what is the soul of America? Well, the soul is the breath, the life, the essence of who we are. The soul makes us “us.”
The soul of America is embodied in the sacred proposition that we’re all created equal in the image of God. That was the sacred proposition for which — for which Dr. King gave his life. It was a sacred proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. A sacred proposition he invoked on that day in 1963 when he told my generation about his dream — a dream in which we’re all entitled to be treated with — my father’s favorite word — dignity and respect. A dream in which we all deserve liberty and justice. And it is still the task of our time to make that dream a reality, because it’s not there yet. (Applause.)
To make Dr. King’s vision tangible, to match the words of the preachers and the poets with our deeds — as the Bible teaches us, we must be doers of the Word. Doers of the Word.
And the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It’s a constant struggle. It’s a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice against those who traffic in racism, extremism, and insurrection; a battle fought on battlefields and bridges, from courthouses and ballot boxes, to pulpits and protests.
And at our best, the American promise wins out. At our best, we hear and heed the injunctions of the Lord and the whispers of the angels.
But I don’t need to tell you that we’re not always at our best. We’re fallible. We fail and fall. But faith and history teaches us that, however dark the night, joy cometh in the morning. (Applause.)
And that joy comes with the commandments of Scripture: “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul.” And “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”
Easy to say. Easy to say. But very hard to do.
But in that commandment, in my view, lies the essence of the gospel and the essence of the American promise. It’s when we see each other as neighbors and not enemies that progress and justice come. It’s when we see each other as fellow human beings, as children of God, that we bend- — begin to walk the path of Dr. King’s “Beloved Community.” A path his dream inspired and whose legacy propel us forward to this day.
And here’s what I learned in my life and in my career along that path, as many of you have learned along your path: We’re all imperfect beings. We don’t know where and what fate will deliver to us, and when. But we do — we can do our best to seek a life of light and hope and love and, yes, truth. Truth.
That’s what I try to do every day to build the future that we all want, while reminding ourselves that nothing — nothing is guaranteed in our democracy. Nothing.
Every generation is required to keep it, defend it, protect it, to be repairers of the breach, and to remember that the power to redeem the soul of America lies where it always has lie — lay: in the hands of “We the People.” “We the People.” (Applause.)
I was similarly reminded of that truth on the South Lawn of the White House. I believe you were there, both of you — both your senators — on the South Lawn of the White House with our Vice President, Kamala Harris, and hearing these words, and I quote: “It took just one generation from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States.” End of quote. Those are the words of Kejan- — Kejan- — Ketanji Jrown [Brown] Jackson, our Supreme Court Justice. (Applause.)
It took just one generation, from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States. (Applause.) And as I told folks at the time: She’s smarter than you are.
As Dr. King said, “Give us the ballot, and we will place judges on the bench…who will do justly.” And we are. That’s the promise of America — where change is hard, but necessary. (Coughs.) Excuse me.
Progress is never easy, but it’s always possible. And things do get better on our march toward a more perfect union.
But at this inflection point, we know there’s a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice, civil rights, voting rights, on protecting our democracy, and on remembering that our job is to redeem the soul of America. (Applause.)
Look, I get accused of being an inveterate optimist. I call that the “Irish of it.” (Laughter.) We’re never on top, always stepped on. But we are optimistic, like Dr. King was optimistic.
Folks, as I said, progress is never easy, but redeeming the soul of the country is absolutely essential. I doubt whether any of us would’ve thought, even in Dr. King’s time, that the — literally, the institutional structures of this country might collapse — like we’re seeing in Brazil, we’re seeing in other parts of the world.
Folks, I’ll close with this — with a blessing I see today.
In the Oval Office — and many of you have been there, been there in my office — you get to set it up the way you want, within reason.
As I sit at my desk —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible), Mr. President!
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) (Applause.)
As I sit at my desk and look at the fireplace, just to the left is the bust of Dr. King. It’s there, in that spot, on purpose. Because he was my inspiration as a kid. He does know where we should go.
I ran for three reasons. I said I wanted to restore the soul of America. I wanted to rebuild this country from the bottom up and the middle out. And I wanted to unite it.
And not far from him, if you look about 40, 50 degrees to the right, there is another statue, another bust — of Rosa Parks. (Applause.)
People ask me, “Why?” I say — and I put in my words — she’d just say, “I’ve had enough.” “I’ve had enough.”
Folks, I often think of the question that Dr. King asked us all those years ago. I think it’s important. You all remember; I think it’s important the nation remember it. He said, “Where do we go from here?” That’s a quote. “Where do we go from here?”
Well, my message to the nation on this day is: We go forward, we go together — (applause) — when we choose democracy over autocracy, a beloved community over chaos; when we choose believers and the dreams, to be doers, to be unafraid, always keeping the faith.
Every time I walk out of my Irish Catholic grandfather’s home up in Scranton, Pennsylvania — his name was Ambrose Finnegan — and he’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith.” And my grandmother, “No, Joey. Spread it. Spread the faith.” (Laughter and applause.) No, I’m serious. It’s a Catholic Rosary I have on my wrist — the one my son had on the day — the night he was dying.
The point is: There’s hope. There’s always hope. We have to believe.
And, ladies and gentlemen, that was Dr. King’s path, in my view — the path of keeping the faith — and it must be our path.
Folks, for God’s sake, this is the United States of America. (Applause.) The United States. There’s nothing beyond our capacity. Nothing beyond our capacity if we set our mind to it.
And, ladies and gentlemen, we’re a land of dreamers and a land of doers. Nothing is beyond our capacity.
And the gospel song that Dr. King loved, as I understand or they always told he did: “We’ve come too far from where we started. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.” (Applause.) He did not bring me this far to leave me.
My fellow Americans, I don’t think the Lord brought us this far to leave us. I really don’t. My word. (Applause.)
And la- — my fellow Americans, God bless Dr. Martin Luther King and his family. And based on his — one of his favorite hymns, “Precious Lord, take my hand through the storm, through the night, [and] lead me on to the light.”
May God bless you all. And let’s go find the light. We can do this. We made it. (Applause.)
12:10 P.M. EST
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