Barack Obama, in a tribute to civil rights hero Martin Luther King, said on Monday his inauguration as the United States’s first black president would extend the work of ”renewing the promise of this nation”.
”Tomorrow [Tuesday], we will come together as one people on the same mall where Dr King’s dream echoes still. As we do, we recognise that here in America, our destinies are inextricably linked,” he said in a statement.
”We resolve that as we walk, we must walk together. And as we go forward in the work of renewing the promise of this nation, let’s remember King’s lesson — that our separate dreams are really one.”
On the eve of his historic inauguration, Obama was Monday marking Martin Luther King Jnr Day with a series of community events under the banner of ”Renew America Together: A Call to Service.”
On Sunday, Obama stood in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver a sombre view of the perils ahead.
The site was where King in 1963, five years before his assassination, gave his legendary ”I Have a Dream” speech, a dream where his children would be judged by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin.
”His was a vision that all Americans might share the freedom to make of our lives what we will; that our children might climb higher than we would,” Obama said in his statement.
”Dr Martin Luther King’s was a life lived in loving service to others. As we honour that legacy, it’s not a day just to pause and reflect — it’s a day to act,” he said.
”And I ask the American people to turn today’s efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country.”
Leaving office
Meanwhile, on the eve of leaving office, US President George Bush spoke on Monday to allies, friends and rivals on the world stage, telling them he enjoyed working with them, a White House spokesperson said.
Bush, who leaves the keys to the White House to Obama on Tuesday, spoke to leaders of Brazil, Britain, Denmark, Georgia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia, and South Korea, as well as former Mexican president Vicente Fox, said Gordon Johndroe.
Bush ”expressed his gratitude for the kind hospitality all these leaders showed him and Mrs Bush over the years and told them how much he enjoyed working with them during his two terms”, said Johndroe.
The US leader spoke to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Fox, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, Johndroe said.
Later, Bush spoke to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, he said.
”In all the calls, the leaders thanked President Bush for his work and for the spirit of cooperation and friendship developed in the last eight years,” said the spokesman.
Johndroe said Bush was to speak to more world leaders throughout the day. — AFP
