TULANE TALK

August 30, 2013

Good Morning:

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. King’s speech and legacy transcend any storm but, as it has during so many other trials in our nation’s history, his message echoed throughout the experience of Katrina.

While occurring miles away and a generation apart from each other, these seemingly disparate events – a speech and a storm – share a number of surprising similarities. Both were seminal moments in struggles that continue to this day. Both raised issues of race, class and justice that shocked America into action. Both were the beginning of amazing progress that also underscores how much work remains to be done. Both can never be forgotten.

Through numerous initiatives such as Tulane Empowers and partnerships with the Posse Foundation, Upward Bound, KIPP and many other like-minded programs, we continually strive to make both the dream of Dr. King and the recovery and renewal from Katrina a reality. None of these efforts would be possible without you.

As President Obama noted this week, “The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.”

Have a great Labor Day weekend,