"We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream,'" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, quoting the prophet Amos, on December 5, 1955 at Holt Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He was speaking at the first meeting of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the coalition of Black ministers and community leaders who eventually coordinated the Montgomery Bus Boycott Mrs. Rosa Parks sparked four days earlier when she refused to give up her seat on a city bus. Today, these words are one of four passages mentioning "justice" inscribed on the new memorial to Dr. King on our National Mall that will be dedicated on October 16th.
The weekend of October 14-16th is also an important one for thousands of people of faith across our country who, like Dr. King, are committed to answering the divine mandate for justice. It is the annual multi-faith National Observance of Children's Sabbaths® weekend, coordinated by the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). This year's theme is "Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue: Answering God's Call to Protect Children." As the American dream is vanishing before our eyes for the more than 16.4 million children who are living in poverty today, almost a million more than last year, people of all faiths are urgently needed to heed and respond to that call and take action to protect our most vulnerable population.
Communities of faith and religious organizations—with millions of members, moral authority, and a tradition of caring for children—are indispensable to building a successful Leave No Child Behind® movement.This year's 20th celebration of the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths weekend will see thousands of faith communities holding special services to commit to making a difference for children all year long. Over the last two decades congregations of many faiths have learned more about the urgent problems facing children in our nation, explored the texts and teachings of their faith traditions calling us to meet children's needs with justice and compassion, and, most importantly, reached out to improve the lives of children and spoken out for justice for the poorest and most vulnerable group among us. But so much work is required to fulfill America's promise to all our children and to live out our faith commitments to embody the justice, compassion, and commitment to the common good God intends. This year's Children's Sabbaths weekend will be a key opportunity for faith communities to learn how they can act right away to protect children and families during this perilous moment of economic downturn and organize to enter the budget battles that are placing millions of children directly in harm's way. Our children must not be sacrificial lambs on the altar of adult politics.
When the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths weekends began in 1992, an American baby was born into poverty every 32 seconds, joining the one in five children living in poverty at the time. Despite so much scientific and technological progress and growth in GDP over the last twenty years, our nation's child poverty rate is still one in every five children, and children are the poorest age group in America. The number of children living in extreme poverty has grown, and the gap between rich and poor continues at historically high levels. Our youngest children, in their most crucial developmental years, fare worse and are getting poorer. Children have suffered more than any other age group during the recession and slow recovery contravening the teachings and tenets of every major faith tradition. I hope every person of faith will stand up and say enough! Put children first and not last.
Follow Marian Wright Edelman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChildDefender
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