WASHINGTON, DC—Joining presidents and giants of the Civil Rights movement as part of the national commemoration of the March on Washington, Alan van Capelle, CEO of Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, spoke today from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, urging his fellow American Jews and all Americans to continue the struggle for civil rights.
Capelle is an openly gay man and former executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda.
Also addressing the crowd were openly lesbian speakers Dr. Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. See GLSEN video embedded below and at www.youtube.com/watch .
Many of the day's speakers, including President Obama, mentioned gays in their speeches, some with the word gay, others using LGBT and LGBTQ. Among those including the community were Delores Huerta, kristin Stoneking in her remarks about Bayard Rustin (Fellowship of Reconciliation), Mee Moua (president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice), and Rep. John Lewis.
"The vision Dr. King offered us fifty years ago wasn't only a dream. It was a call for equality but it was also a demand for justice," van Capelle said. "We may be closer to equality but we are far from justice. … Every year Jews around the world recall how Moses led his people out of slavery and towards the Promised Land. But the desert came first. Jews believe that the only way to the Promised Land is through the desert. We are taught that 'there is no way to get from here to there except by joining together and marching.'"
Van Capelle's brief speech was part of the Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action event at the Lincoln Memorial, which celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s incomparable "I Have A Dream" speech.
The full text of van Capelle's remarks are included below.
Bend the Arc is a national organization inspired by Jewish values and the steadfast belief that Jewish Americans, regardless of religious or institutional affiliations, are compelled to create justice and opportunity for Americans. It serves as a leader and critical partner in ongoing national and state-level work to protect civil rights, expand rights to LGBT individuals, advance comprehensive immigration reform, ensure that domestic and home care workers are protected by basic labor standards, and other causes of social justice.
Alan van Capelle is a nationally recognized leader in the field of civil rights and social justice. Prior to joining Bend the Arc, he won major victories for LGBT rights as Executive Director of the Empire State Pride Agenda; ran the day to day political operations of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, the largest and most powerful building service union in the country; and served as Deputy Comptroller for the City of New York, where he advised the agency on all matters involving public policy, media, and community relations. Alan is available today in Washington and this week in New York for interviews in person or via phone. Please contact Emma Stieglitz, emmaS@berlinrosen.com (646) 200-5307, for details.
Full text of Alan van Capelle's remarks at the Lincoln Memorial, as prepared for delivery:
Fifty years ago a Rabbi shared these steps with Dr. King and began his remarks by saying, "I speak to you as an American Jew."
My name is Alan van Capelle, and today I speak to you as an American Jew. I represent the Jewish Civil Rights Group Bend the Arc, and the more than thirty organizations collectively called the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable.
The vision Dr. King offered us fifty years ago wasn't only a dream. It was a call for equality but it was also a demand for justice.
We may be closer to legal equality but we are far, far, far from justice. We are far from justice when young black men are stopped and frisked and disrespected on the streets of New York City.
We are far from justice when students carry the burden of loans.
We are far from justice when 11 million immigrants work every single day without protections or a pathway to citizenship.
We are far from justice when a gay, lesbian, or transgender person can be fired from their job simply for being who they are.
We are far from justice when we accept the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and we allow American children to go to bed hungry.
Yes, the moral arc of the universe is long and it does in fact bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own. It bends because of people like Bayard Rustin, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner. It bends because of you and me. We make the arc bend. And for many of us, it's not bending fast enough.
Every year Jews around the world recall how Moses led his people out of slavery and towards the Promised Land. But the desert came first.
Jews believe that the only way to the Promised Land is through the desert. We are taught that "there is no way to get from here to there except by joining together and marching.*"
Fifty years after Dr. King delivered his speech from these very steps we are still a people wandering through the desert. But don't be discouraged. Because I'm not.
When I look around this Mall, at all of you — so diverse, so impassioned, so bonded together by shared values, hopes, and dreams — then I can hear in your voices the echo of Dr. King, and I know that the edge of the desert is near, and the promised land within sight.
Remarks by Dr. Eliza Byard
Fifty years ago, Bayard Rustin stood on this stage leading the vast crowd reciting the demands of the March on Washington.
A movement spoke through him, but the world would not yet embrace him as a gay man.
Today, LGBT voices are welcomed to this stage. And President Obama has awarded Bayard Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
But we have not yet seen Dr. King's "great vaults of opportunity" thrown open to every young person. We have so far to go before a truly great education is accessible for every child.
GLSEN and our community are partners in this fight. We fight with and for millions of LGBT students and all those seen as "different." They deserve a welcoming audience for their dreams and they deserve to be embraced by their communities for who they are.
Yet every day these youth endure the silent segregation imposed by violence and fear.
Some have been silenced forever:
Sakia Gunn.
Gwen Araujo.
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover.
Lawrence King.
In their memories we raise our voices today.
Bayard Rustin was a Quaker. He attended Meeting each week, listening for the voice of the Divine that can speak through any one of us.
Across this nation, voices are ready to rise for opportunity and for justice for every young person, regardless of who they are, what they look like or who they love.
Listen for those voices.
Lift them up so they can be heard.
When we do that, we all shall rise.
Thank you.
Also see: www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Let-Freedom-Ring-President-Obama-on-fairness-for-gays-and-for-all/44213.html .
