speech on importance of kin

"I Have a Dream"

August 28, 1963

Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the 28 August 1963  March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , synthesized portions of his previous sermons and speeches, with selected statements by other prominent public figures.

King had been drawing on material he used in the “I Have a Dream” speech in his other speeches and sermons for many years. The finale of King’s April 1957 address, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” envisioned a “new world,” quoted the song “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” and proclaimed that he had heard “a powerful orator say not so long ago, that … Freedom must ring from every mountain side…. Yes, let it ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado…. Let it ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let it ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let it ring from every mountain and hill of Alabama. From every mountain side, let freedom ring” ( Papers  4:178–179 ).

In King’s 1959 sermon “Unfulfilled Hopes,” he describes the life of the apostle Paul as one of “unfulfilled hopes and shattered dreams” ( Papers  6:360 ). He notes that suffering as intense as Paul’s “might make you stronger and bring you closer to the Almighty God,” alluding to a concept he later summarized in “I Have a Dream”: “unearned suffering is redemptive” ( Papers  6:366 ; King, “I Have a Dream,” 84).

In September 1960, King began giving speeches referring directly to the American Dream. In a speech given that month at a conference of the North Carolina branches of the  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , King referred to the unexecuted clauses of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and spoke of America as “a dream yet unfulfilled” ( Papers  5:508 ). He advised the crowd that “we must be sure that our struggle is conducted on the highest level of dignity and discipline” and reminded them not to “drink the poisonous wine of hate,” but to use the “way of nonviolence” when taking “direct action” against oppression ( Papers  5:510 ).

King continued to give versions of this speech throughout 1961 and 1962, then calling it “The American Dream.” Two months before the March on Washington, King stood before a throng of 150,000 people at Cobo Hall in Detroit to expound upon making “the American Dream a reality” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 70). King repeatedly exclaimed, “I have a dream this afternoon” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 71). He articulated the words of the prophets Amos and Isaiah, declaring that “justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,” for “every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low” (King, Address at Freedom Rally, 72). As he had done numerous times in the previous two years, King concluded his message imagining the day “when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (King,  Address at Freedom Rally , 73).

As King and his advisors prepared his speech for the conclusion of the 1963 march, he solicited suggestions for the text. Clarence  Jones   offered a metaphor for the unfulfilled promise of constitutional rights for African Americans, which King incorporated into the final text: “America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned” (King, “I Have a Dream,” 82). Several other drafts and suggestions were posed. References to Abraham Lincoln and the  Emancipation Proclamation  were sustained throughout the countless revisions. King recalled that he did not finish the complete text of the speech until 3:30 A.M. on the morning of 28 August.

Later that day, King stood at the podium overlooking the gathering. Although a typescript version of the speech was made available to the press on the morning of the march, King did not merely read his prepared remarks. He later recalled: “I started out reading the speech, and I read it down to a point … the audience response was wonderful that day…. And all of a sudden this thing came to me that … I’d used many times before.... ‘I have a dream.’ And I just felt that I wanted to use it here … I used it, and at that point I just turned aside from the manuscript altogether. I didn’t come back to it” (King, 29 November 1963).

The following day in the  New York Times,  James Reston wrote: “Dr. King touched all the themes of the day, only better than anybody else. He was full of the symbolism of Lincoln and Gandhi, and the cadences of the Bible. He was both militant and sad, and he sent the crowd away feeling that the long journey had been worthwhile” (Reston, “‘I Have a Dream …’”).

Carey to King, 7 June 1955, in  Papers  2:560–561.

Hansen,  The Dream,  2003.

King, Address at the Freedom Rally in Cobo Hall, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, “I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, in  A Call to Conscience , ed. Carson and Shepard, 2001.

King, Interview by Donald H. Smith, 29 November 1963,  DHSTR-WHi .

King, “The Negro and the American Dream,” Excerpt from Address at the Annual Freedom Mass Meeting of the North Carolina State Conference of Branches of the NAACP, 25 September 1960, in  Papers  5:508–511.

King, “A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,” Address Delivered at St. Louis Freedom Rally, 10 April 1957, in  Papers  4:167–179.

King, Unfulfilled Hopes, 5 April 1959, in  Papers  6:359–367.

James Reston, “‘I Have a Dream…’: Peroration by Dr. King Sums Up a Day the Capital Will Remember,”  New York Times , 29 August 1963.

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The Lasting Power of Dr. King’s Dream Speech

By Michiko Kakutani

• Aug. 27, 2013

It was late in the day and hot, and after a long march and an afternoon of speeches about federal legislation, unemployment and racial and social justice, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. finally stepped to the lectern, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, to address the crowd of 250,000 gathered on the National Mall.

He began slowly, with magisterial gravity, talking about what it was to be black in America in 1963 and the “shameful condition” of race relations a hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Unlike many of the day’s previous speakers, he did not talk about particular bills before Congress or the marchers’ demands. Instead, he situated the civil rights movement within the broader landscape of history — time past, present and future — and within the timeless vistas of Scripture.

Dr. King was about halfway through his prepared speech when Mahalia Jackson — who earlier that day had delivered a stirring rendition of the spiritual “I Been ’Buked and I Been Scorned” — shouted out to him from the speakers’ stand: “Tell ’em about the ‘Dream,’ Martin, tell ’em about the ‘Dream’!” She was referring to a riff he had delivered on earlier occasions, and Dr. King pushed the text of his remarks to the side and began an extraordinary improvisation on the dream theme that would become one of the most recognizable refrains in the world.

With his improvised riff, Dr. King took a leap into history, jumping from prose to poetry, from the podium to the pulpit. His voice arced into an emotional crescendo as he turned from a sobering assessment of current social injustices to a radiant vision of hope — of what America could be. “I have a dream,” he declared, “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”

Many in the crowd that afternoon, 50 years ago on Wednesday, had taken buses and trains from around the country. Many wore hats and their Sunday best — “People then,” the civil rights leader John Lewis would recall, “when they went out for a protest, they dressed up” — and the Red Cross was passing out ice cubes to help alleviate the sweltering August heat. But if people were tired after a long day, they were absolutely electrified by Dr. King. There was reverent silence when he began speaking, and when he started to talk about his dream, they called out, “Amen,” and, “Preach, Dr. King, preach,” offering, in the words of his adviser Clarence B. Jones, “every version of the encouragements you would hear in a Baptist church multiplied by tens of thousands.”

You could feel “the passion of the people flowing up to him,” James Baldwin, a skeptic of that day’s March on Washington, later wrote, and in that moment, “it almost seemed that we stood on a height, and could see our inheritance; perhaps we could make the kingdom real.”

Dr. King’s speech was not only the heart and emotional cornerstone of the March on Washington, but also a testament to the transformative powers of one man and the magic of his words. Fifty years later, it is a speech that can still move people to tears. Fifty years later, its most famous lines are recited by schoolchildren and sampled by musicians. Fifty years later, the four words “I have a dream” have become shorthand for Dr. King’s commitment to freedom, social justice and nonviolence, inspiring activists from Tiananmen Square to Soweto, Eastern Europe to the West Bank.

Why does Dr. King’s “Dream” speech exert such a potent hold on people around the world and across the generations? Part of its resonance resides in Dr. King’s moral imagination. Part of it resides in his masterly oratory and gift for connecting with his audience — be they on the Mall that day in the sun or watching the speech on television or, decades later, viewing it online. And part of it resides in his ability, developed over a lifetime, to convey the urgency of his arguments through language richly layered with biblical and historical meanings.

The son, grandson and great-grandson of Baptist ministers, Dr. King was comfortable with the black church’s oral tradition, and he knew how to read his audience and react to it; he would often work jazzlike improvisations around favorite sermonic riffs — like the “dream” sequence — cutting and pasting his own words and those of others. At the same time, the sonorous cadences and ringing, metaphor-rich language of the King James Bible came instinctively to him. Quotations from the Bible, along with its vivid imagery, suffused his writings, and he used them to put the sufferings of African-Americans in the context of Scripture — to give black audience members encouragement and hope, and white ones a visceral sense of identification.

In his “Dream” speech, Dr. King alludes to a famous passage from Galatians, when he speaks of “that day when all of God’s children — black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics — will be able to join hands.” As he did in many of his sermons, he also drew parallels between “the Negro” still an “exile in his own land” and the plight of the Israelites in Exodus, who, with God on their side, found deliverance from hardship and oppression, escaping slavery in Egypt to journey toward the Promised Land.

The entire March on Washington speech reverberates with biblical rhythms and parallels, and bristles with a panoply of references to other historical and literary texts that would have resonated with his listeners. In addition to allusions to the prophets Isaiah (“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low”) and Amos (“We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”), there are echoes of the Declaration of Independence (“the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”); Shakespeare (“this sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent”); and popular songs like Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” (“Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York,” “Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California”).

Such references added amplification and depth of field to the speech, much the way T. S. Eliot’s myriad allusions in “The Waste Land” add layered meaning to that poem. Dr. King, who had a doctorate in theology and once contemplated a career in academia, was shaped by both his childhood in his father’s church and his later studies of disparate thinkers like Reinhold Niebuhr, Gandhi and Hegel. Along the way, he developed a gift for synthesizing assorted ideas and motifs and making them his own — a gift that enabled him to address many different audiences at once, while making ideas that some might find radical somehow familiar and accessible. It was a gift that in some ways mirrored his abilities as the leader of the civil rights movement, tasked with holding together often contentious factions (from more militant figures like Stokely Carmichael to more conservative ones like Roy Wilkins), while finding a way to balance the concerns of grass-roots activists with the need to forge a working alliance with the federal government.

At the same time, Dr. King was also able to nestle his arguments within a historical continuum, lending them the authority of tradition and the weight of association. For some, in his audience, the articulation of his dream for America would have evoked conscious or unconscious memories of Langston Hughes’s call in a 1935 poem to “let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed” and W. E. B. Du Bois’s description of the “wonderful America, which the founding fathers dreamed.” His final lines in the March on Washington speech come from a Negro spiritual reminding listeners of slaves’ sustaining faith in the possibility of liberation: “Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

For those less familiar with African-American music and literature, there were allusions with immediate, patriotic connotations. Much the way Lincoln redefined the founders’ vision of America in his Gettysburg Address by invoking the Declaration of Independence, so Dr. King in his “Dream” speech makes references to both the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence. These deliberate echoes helped universalize the moral underpinnings of the civil rights movement and emphasized that its goals were only as revolutionary as the founding fathers’ original vision of the United States. Dr. King’s dream for America’s “citizens of color” was no more, no less than the American Dream of a country where “all men are created equal.”

As for Dr. King’s quotation of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” — an almost de facto national anthem, familiar even to children — it underscored civil rights workers’ patriotic belief in the project of reinventing America. For Dr. King, it might have elicited personal memories, too. The night his home was bombed during the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., endangering the lives of his wife, Coretta, and their infant daughter, he calmed the crowd gathered in front of their house, saying, “I want you to love our enemies.” Some of his supporters reportedly broke into song, including hymns and “My Country, ’Tis of Thee.”

The March on Washington and Dr. King’s “Dream” speech would play an important role in helping pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the pivotal Selma to Montgomery march that he led in 1965 would provide momentum for the passage later that year of the Voting Rights Act. Though Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 , his exhausting schedule (he had been giving hundreds of speeches a year) and his frustration with schisms in the civil rights movement and increasing violence in the country led to growing weariness and depression before his assassination in 1968.

The knowledge that Dr. King gave his life to the cause lends an added poignancy to the experience of hearing his speeches today. And so does being reminded now — in the second term of Barack Obama’s presidency — of the dire state of race relations in the early 1960s, when towns in the South still had separate schools, restaurants, hotels and bathrooms for blacks and whites, and discrimination in housing and employment was prevalent across the country. Only two and a half months before the “Dream” speech, Gov. George Wallace had stood in a doorway at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students from trying to register; the next day the civil rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated in front of his home in Jackson, Miss.

President Obama, who once wrote about his mother’s coming home “with books on the civil rights movement, the recordings of Mahalia Jackson, the speeches of Dr. King,” has described the leaders of the movement as “giants whose shoulders we stand on.” Some of his own speeches owe a clear debt to Dr. King’s ideas and words.

In his 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address, which brought him to national attention, Mr. Obama channeled Dr. King’s vision of hope, speaking of coming “together as one American family.” In his 2008 speech about race, he talked, much as Dr. King had, of continuing “on the path of a more perfect union.” And in his 2007 speech commemorating the 1965 Selma march, he echoed Dr. King’s remarks about Exodus, describing Dr. King and the other civil rights leaders as members of the Moses generation who “pointed the way” and “took us 90 percent of the way there.” He and his contemporaries were their heirs, Mr. Obama said — they were members of the Joshua generation with the responsibility of finishing “the journey Moses had begun.”

Dr. King knew it would not be easy to “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood” — difficulties that persist today with new debates over voter registration laws and the Trayvon Martin shooting. Dr. King probably did not foresee a black president celebrating the 50th anniversary of his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, and surely did not foresee a monument to himself just a short walk away. But he did dream of a future in which the country embarked on “the sunlit path of racial justice,” and he foresaw, with bittersweet prescience, that 1963, as he put it, was “not an end, but a beginning.”

Follow Michiko Kakutani on Twitter: @michikokakutani

How Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' Speech Changed The World

By Nicholas Wapshott

Aug 28 (Reuters) - It would be easy to assume that the stirring words of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech affected Americans most of all. His goading of a nation to live up to the democratic principles of its founders was a sharp display of America's private grief. The wrongs he set out to right were internal and shaming - American sins that stretched back to the days of slavery. When he rose to speak, King was clearly aiming his remarks at his fellow Americans.

But King's dignified appeal to the better nature of his countrymen had a resonance far wider than just the United States. When he addressed what he called "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation," he would inadvertently set off a worldwide movement for racial emancipation. Tangible evidence of the long march he set off on 50 years ago can be found in the endless roads and civic facilities around the world to which the name Martin Luther King has been appended - celebrating the American civil rights leader's universal cry for a more generous and humane world.

Africans found a particularly poignant message in King's plea for racial tolerance and his declaration that "the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination." It is no surprise that there is a Martin Luther King Road in Lusaka, Zambia, and a Martin Luther King Street in Mpumalanga, South Africa. King's appeal to the goodness in Americans and the struggle for black liberation in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela were made of the same cloth.

King's insistence on non-violence stemmed from his devotion to the ideas of pacifist civil disobedience preached by Mahatma Gandhi as a means to throw off British rule in India. The link between the two strands of dignified, peaceful, powerful dissent can be found celebrated all over India, as in the naming of Martin Luther King Sarani, or Street, in the fancy Park Street area of Calcutta.

Harder to fathom, perhaps, is the plethora of Martin Luther King public monuments in France, places like Parc Martin Luther King in the tony Parisian neighborhood of Batignolles, once the home of the Impressionist painter Édouard Manet, and the Collège Martin Luther King in Villiers-le-Bel.

King could not have imagined how readily his name would be commandeered by liberal white politicians to boast the impeccability of their progressive credentials. How else to explain the Martin Luther King Adventure Playground in Islington, North London?

The power of King's message 50 years ago can be seen in the way the BBC in London is celebrating what most Americans think of as a purely domestic event. The British national broadcaster has distilled the essence of King's lasting appeal with a broadcast that has recruited dissident world leaders, peacemakers and protesters to each read aloud a part of King's speech a more earnest iteration of the "We Are The World" format previously used by pop musicians to raise money for disaster relief. It will be heard by the BBC's audience of 239 million worldwide.

Among those chosen to speak King's hallowed words are the Dalai Lama, exiled from Tibet by the Communist Chinese occupation; Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to go to school; Maya Angelou, the American poet, and Joan Baez, the precentor of the American civil rights movement. In the absence of the great Mandela himself, his granddaughter, Ndileka Mandela, will speak.

Gwyneth Williams, head of the network that orchestrated this program, put the speech in its global context when she said, "Martin Luther King's words constitute one of the most passionate political statements of the 20th century, a source of inspiration in the quest for freedom in so many different countries around the world."

So what was it about the speech and the time it was delivered that ensured that "I Have a Dream" went instantly into the worldwide pantheon alongside President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself," British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's "We Shall Never Surrender," and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?

Spoken in tones of hushed deliberation, in barely 1,600 words, King dared the racists to diminish the meaning and importance of his message. He pitched his appeal for tolerance and fairness by stressing the historical dimensions of the eternal grievances of African-Americans left unrectified by the Civil War.

By stressing that "1963 is not an end but a beginning," however, he understood that equally important to the meaning of the words he chose was the age in which they were spoken.

The exact date of the speech, Aug. 28, 1963, is important. The early '60s was an optimistic time when anything seemed possible. It was the tail end of an Age of Innocence for America, but also the blossoming of the Age of Aquarius. The '60s social revolution had started, but not yet turned sour. The United States had not yet caught Beatlemania. On the pop charts, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!" by the comedy writer Allan Sherman, rubbed shoulders with Peter Paul and Mary's more ominous "Blowin' in the Wind." The young president, John F. Kennedy, still had two months to live.

Television was never more powerful. Suddenly the real life of news broadcasts from Selma, Alabama, seemed more immediate and exciting than the artificial dramas of the endless soaps and game shows. The United States was going through a growth spurt and was just about to shed its '50s naïveté for the complexities of the high '60s - with its Summer of Love, its Generation Gap and its overindulgences and overdoses.

Thanks to new TV satellites like Telstar, fired into space the previous year, the full drama of the King speech was seen and felt around the world in real time. The United States, once isolated by two oceans and its deliberate decision to remain free from the troubles of the Old World, was opening up. As John Lennon recalled of the British invasion in the spring of 1964, "We were all on this ship in the '60s, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow's nest."

The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, whose pinnacle was King's speech, was part of a new strand of political protest, the mass demonstration, which was soon picked up and used to great effect in student revolts worldwide. For those watching from afar, King's noble words represented the best side of a troubled country about to be wracked by assassination, rioting and war.

The clear sense of foreboding in his speech was resolved less than five years later - when he was shot dead. With John Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, he took his place as one of a trio of martyrs whose deaths testified that the dream he longed for would not easily become reality. (Nicholas Wapshott)

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This Day In History : August 28

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Martin Luther King Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , the African American civil rights movement reaches its high-water mark when Martin Luther King Jr.  delivers his " I Have a Dream " speech to about 250,000 people attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The demonstrators—Black and white, poor and rich—came together in the nation’s capital to demand voting rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.

The peaceful rally was the largest assembly for a redress of grievances that the capital had ever seen, and King was the last speaker. With the statue of Abraham Lincoln —the Great Emancipator—towering behind him, King used the rhetorical talents he had developed as a Baptist preacher to show how, as he put it, the “Negro is still not free.” He told of the struggle ahead, stressing the importance of continued action and nonviolent protest. Coming to the end of his prepared text (which, like other speakers that day, he had limited to seven minutes), he was overwhelmed by the moment and launched into an improvised sermon.

He told the hushed crowd, “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia , go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettoes of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.” Continuing, he began the refrain that made the speech one of the best known in U.S. history, second only to Lincoln’s 1863 “Gettysburg Address” :

“I have a dream,” he boomed over the crowd stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument , “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

King had used the “I have a dream” theme before, in a handful of stump speeches, but never with the force and effectiveness of that hot August day in Washington. He equated the civil rights movement with the highest and noblest ideals of the American tradition, allowing many to see for the first time the importance and urgency of racial equality. He ended his stirring, 16-minute speech with his vision of the fruit of racial harmony:

“When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'”

In the year after the March on Washington, the civil rights movement achieved two of its greatest successes: the ratification of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution , which abolished the poll tax and thus a barrier to poor African American voters in the South; and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , which prohibited racial discrimination in employment and education and outlawed racial segregation in public facilities. In October 1964, Martin Luther King Jr., was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, he was shot to death while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee—he was 39 years old. The gunman was escaped convict James Earl Ray .

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A Summary and Analysis of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘I Have a Dream’ is one of the greatest speeches in American history. Delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68) in Washington D.C. in 1963, the speech is a powerful rallying cry for racial equality and for a fairer and equal world in which African Americans will be as free as white Americans.

If you’ve ever stayed up till the small hours working on a presentation you’re due to give the next day, tearing your hair out as you try to find the right words, you can take solace in the fact that as great an orator as Martin Luther King did the same with one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered.

He reportedly stayed up until 4am the night before he was due to give his ‘I Have a Dream’, writing it out in longhand. You can read the speech in full here .

‘I Have a Dream’: background

The occasion for King’s speech was the march on Washington , which saw some 210,000 African American men, women, and children gather at the Washington Monument in August 1963, before marching to the Lincoln Memorial.

They were marching for several reasons, including jobs (many of them were out of work), but the main reason was freedom: King and many other Civil Rights leaders sought to remove segregation of black and white Americans and to ensure black Americans were treated the same as white Americans.

1963 was the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation , in which then US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) had freed the African slaves in the United States in 1863. But a century on from the abolition of slavery, King points out, black Americans still are not free in many respects.

‘I Have a Dream’: summary

King begins his speech by reminding his audience that it’s a century, or ‘five score years’, since that ‘great American’ Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This ensured the freedom of the African slaves, but Black Americans are still not free, King points out, because of racial segregation and discrimination.

America is a wealthy country, and yet many Black Americans live in poverty. It is as if the Black American is an exile in his own land. King likens the gathering in Washington to cashing a cheque: in other words, claiming money that is due to be paid.

Next, King praises the ‘magnificent words’ of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence . King compares these documents to a promissory note, because they contain the promise that all men, including Black men, will be guaranteed what the Declaration of Independence calls ‘inalienable rights’: namely, ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.

King asserts that America in the 1960s has ‘defaulted’ on this promissory note: in other words, it has refused to pay up. King calls it a ‘sacred obligation’, but America as a nation is like someone who has written someone else a cheque that has bounced and the money owed remains to be paid. But it is not because the money isn’t there: America, being a land of opportunity, has enough ‘funds’ to ensure everyone is prosperous enough.

King urges America to rise out of the ‘valley’ of segregation to the ‘sunlit path of racial justice’. He uses the word ‘brotherhood’ to refer to all Americans, since all men and women are God’s children. He also repeatedly emphasises the urgency of the moment. This is not some brief moment of anger but a necessary new start for America. However, King cautions his audience not to give way to bitterness and hatred, but to fight for justice in the right manner, with dignity and discipline.

Physical violence and militancy are to be avoided. King recognises that many white Americans who are also poor and marginalised feel a kinship with the Civil Rights movement, so all Americans should join together in the cause. Police brutality against Black Americans must be eradicated, as must racial discrimination in hotels and restaurants. States which forbid Black Americans from voting must change their laws.

Martin Luther King then comes to the most famous part of his speech, in which he uses the phrase ‘I have a dream’ to begin successive sentences (a rhetorical device known as anaphora ). King outlines the form that his dream, or ambition or wish for a better America, takes.

His dream, he tells his audience, is ‘deeply rooted’ in the American Dream: that notion that anybody, regardless of their background, can become prosperous and successful in the United States. King once again reminds his listeners of the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

In his dream of a better future, King sees the descendants of former Black slaves and the descendants of former slave owners united, sitting and eating together. He has a dream that one day his children will live in a country where they are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

Even in Mississippi and Alabama, states which are riven by racial injustice and hatred, people of all races will live together in harmony. King then broadens his dream out into ‘our hope’: a collective aspiration and endeavour. King then quotes the patriotic American song ‘ My Country, ’Tis of Thee ’, which describes America as a ‘sweet land of liberty’.

King uses anaphora again, repeating the phrase ‘let freedom ring’ several times in succession to suggest how jubilant America will be on the day that such freedoms are ensured. And when this happens, Americans will be able to join together and be closer to the day when they can sing a traditional African-American hymn : ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.’

‘I Have a Dream’: analysis

Although Martin Luther King’s speech has become known by the repeated four-word phrase ‘I Have a Dream’, which emphasises the personal nature of his vision, his speech is actually about a collective dream for a better and more equal America which is not only shared by many Black Americans but by anyone who identifies with their fight against racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination.

Nevertheless, in working from ‘I have a dream’ to a different four-word phrase, ‘this is our hope’. The shift is natural and yet it is a rhetorical masterstroke, since the vision of a better nation which King has set out as a very personal, sincere dream is thus telescoped into a universal and collective struggle for freedom.

What’s more, in moving from ‘dream’ to a different noun, ‘hope’, King suggests that what might be dismissed as an idealistic ambition is actually something that is both possible and achievable. No sooner has the dream gathered momentum than it becomes a more concrete ‘hope’.

In his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, King was doing more than alluding to Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years earlier. The opening words to his speech, ‘Five score years ago’, allude to a specific speech Lincoln himself had made a century before: the Gettysburg Address .

In that speech, delivered at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery (now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in November 1863, Lincoln had urged his listeners to continue in the fight for freedom, envisioning the day when all Americans – including Black slaves – would be free. His speech famously begins with the words: ‘Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.’

‘Four score and seven years’ is eighty-seven years, which takes us back from 1863 to 1776, the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. So, Martin Luther King’s allusion to the words of Lincoln’s historic speech do two things: they call back to Lincoln’s speech but also, by extension, to the founding of the United States almost two centuries before. Although Lincoln and the American Civil War represented progress in the cause to make all Americans free regardless of their ethnicity, King makes it clear in ‘I Have a Dream’ that there is still some way to go.

In the last analysis, King’s speech is a rhetorically clever and emotionally powerful call to use non-violent protest to oppose racial injustice, segregation, and discrimination, but also to ensure that all Americans are lifted out of poverty and degradation.

But most of all, King emphasises the collective endeavour that is necessary to bring about the world he wants his children to live in: the togetherness, the linking of hands, which is essential to make the dream a reality.

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The Weakening of Kin Ties: Exploring the Need for Life-World Led Interventions

Gert schout.

1 Department of Medical Humanities, VU University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Gideon de Jong

2 Edith Cowan University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Building 21, Room 21.423, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia; [email protected]

The protective features that families and wider social relationships can have are required to meet the demands of life in contemporary Western societies. Choice and detraditionalization, however; impede this source of solidarity. Family Group Conferencing (FGC) and other life-world led interventions have the potential to strengthen primary groups. This paper explores the need for such a social intervention, using insights from sociological and philosophical theories and empirical findings from a case study of the research project ‘FGC in mental health’. This need is understandable considering the weakening of kin ties, the poor qualities of state agencies to mobilise self-care and informal care, its capacity to produce a shift of power from public to private spheres and its capacity to mitigate the co-isolation of individuals, families and communities. A life-world led intervention like FGC with a specific and modest ambition contributes to small-scale solidarity. This ambition is not inclined to establish a broad social cohesion within society but to restore; in terms of the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk; immunity (protection) and solidarity in primary groups, and consequently, resolve issues with those (family, neighbours, colleagues) who share a sphere (a situation, a process, a fate).

1. Introduction

The importance of families in adapting to new norms, addressing cultural traditions, providing socialisation, and helping to cope with daily challenges is beyond doubt; however, several scholars have suggested, in recent years, that family life can also be a source of stress [ 1 ], a battle ground for competitive co-parenting [ 2 ] or a trial in balancing parental goals and adolescents’ desire for autonomy [ 3 ]. Gazso and McDaniel [ 4 ], on the other hand, see families as a necessity for dealing with the constraints and structures of the neoliberal welfare state. How essential, and at the same time, difficult, family life may be, kin ties in contemporary Western societies are weakening [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. In a paper on evolutionary sociology, Maryanski (in [ 8 ]) challenged “some long held beliefs in sociology about humans’ needs for extended kinship, intimate ties, collectivism and solidarity, arguing that human nature is, in fact, predisposed towards freedom, autonomy, restricted kinship networks, weak ties, and mobility in space” [ 5 ] (p. 419). Thick solidarity of close kinship bonds and collectivism is connected to existential hardship [ 9 , 10 ]. Conversely, thin solidarity is linked to individualism and the absent of such hardship [ 11 ]. The weakening of kin ties has created space for ambivalent commitments: the choice to support each other is feasible as much as the possibility not to do so. The social structures of solidarity are easily undermined, in spite of shared life events, but these structures can also be restored. Shared life events are not yet always possible because of geographic distances between family members and the changes in family composition, due to the transformations of family arrangements associated with divorces and migration [ 12 , 13 ].

Where Bauman [ 14 , 15 ] describes how the loss of solidarity that comes with the context of individualisation and detraditionalisation is connected to the ‘liquidity’ of love and life, Gazso and McDaniel [ 4 ] underline the protective features that families and wider social relationships have in dealing with the uncertainties of life in late modern societies, especially under neoliberal conditions. This raises the need for the strengthening of families and near communities in dealing with the precarity these conditions bring. Since 2009, an ongoing study has been conducted in The Netherlands in an attempt to reach out and reunite extremely marginalised people with their primary groups, or what is left of them, using Family Group Conferencing (FGC). FGC brings the social networks of family members and professional stakeholders together in a family-led decision-making forum that enables every participant to be heard and provides prospects for solutions. Since its implementation in public health systems of various Western countries in the 1990s, many researchers have attempted to examine FGC’s effectiveness (see for an overview [ 16 ]), although its theoretical foundations have remained under-researched. The aim of this paper is to understand the need for FGC in contemporary Western societies as a life-world led intervention that combines voice, self-organisation and professional support. The principles of such a life-world led practice comprise understanding the community members’ life-world views and their views of their potential, offering resources and facilitating empowerment, sharing life-world case studies, and lobbying to influence local and national policy, in relation to both the individual and communities [ 17 ].

In the following section, sociological theories that shed light on the need for the strengthening of primary groups and the prospects that a life-world led intervention such as FGC might offer will be discussed. That such interventions hold potential to generate solidarity on a small-scale is illustrated by a case study from the research project ‘FGC in mental health’. The case study reveals that sociological theories alone are not sufficient to grasp the need for FGC in contemporary Western societies. In the discussion, therefore, the ‘sphere theory’ of the philosopher Sloterdijk is brought in for its explanatory value of why life-world led interventions hold promise for regaining small-scale solidarity.

2. Background

Influential scholars, like Fukuyama [ 18 , 19 ], Pinker [ 20 ], Siedentop [ 21 ] and Shermer [ 22 ], describe a broad development across the Western world towards social justice, democracy, horizontal relationships and individualism. Once a context of social justice and democracy is established, the role of kin ties becomes less important to keep the wicked world outside. Shermer [ 22 ] points out how kin altruism has evolved in reciprocal altruism and the blind altruism of modern society. He signals the rise of reasoning, deliberation, horizontal relationships, and a much safer and less violent world. Despite the precarity of life under neoliberal conditions for some, the family as a safe haven in a dangerous world has faded away into the background. This, however, has led to a weakening of kin ties [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].

2.1. The Weakening of Kin Ties

Following Pahl and Spencer [ 23 ], Gazso and McDaniel [ 4 ] use the concept of “personal communities” to describe that family ties are not only given, but also chosen, and that ties can be adjusted, created and maintained by individuals. They postulate personal communities mainly as “communities of choice” and conclude that families nowadays are increasingly families by choice [ 4 ]. With sound arguments, Gazso and McDaniel [ 4 ] conclude that family ties in contemporary Western societies are no longer immediately determined nor conditioned by blood, tradition or history and that choice concerning the degree of intimacy and mutual support can be made individually. Processes of individualisation, detraditionalisation and secularisation deter individuals from collective enterprises. Lorentzen and Hustinx [ 24 ] describe this process as a shift from ‘communities of fate’ to ‘communities of choice’, meaning that collective identities are replaced by subjective individualism—processes where individuals constitute their own life more or less independent of the collective.

Where Gazso and McDaniel [ 4 ] highlight the protective features that families and wider social relationships can have in dealing with the uncertainties of life, Bauman [ 14 , 15 ] articulates the loss of solidarity that comes within the context of individualisation and detraditionalisation, in terms like ‘liquid love’ [ 14 ] and ‘liquid life’ [ 15 ]. The background of liquid modernity [ 25 ] does not easily generate durable mutual support or loyalty within families, although the precarity of insecure employment and unbelonging under neoliberal conditions indeed requires such bonds.

Social groups can be distinguished as given and chosen. In contrast to given communities, you can choose to leave a chosen community. Hirst [ 26 ] (p. 52) sees a community of fate as an ‘existential community’: one is born and raised in it, actors share a situation, a process or a fate. Boundaries, identity and belonging are crucial features of both communities. At first sight, these features of communities of fate are the point of application for a life-world led intervention such as FGC. Nonetheless, its connotations are problematic. Where communities of choice postulate the liberated individual—a person free from obligations and able to choose from all options that markets have to offer—communities of fate articulate bonding and the constraints of fate. Acts of solidarity are, contrarily, expressed in situations that are given and chosen at the same time. No one has chosen their family, nor the place of their cradle. Still there is freedom to maneuver and to shape their life project within different ratios of given and chosen relationships. For good reasons, sociologists designate institutions like families and friendships as natural, tacit and powerful sources of regulation. Pahl and Spencer [ 23 ] view peoples’ lives as embedded in active and significant network ties that are both given and chosen. The chosen relationships, according to Pahl and Spencer, include kin and non-kin. They refer to these social structures as ‘personal communities’. This seems, nevertheless, a contradiction in terms. A community is, and never can be, personal; it is the ultimate shared life-world, where others pull the strings as well. For this reason, in this paper, concepts like ‘families of choice’, ‘personal communities’ or ‘communities of fate’ are avoided; instead, the term ‘primary groups’ is used to underline the exchanges of implicit items, such as love, caring, concern, animosity, support—incorporating the protection of given, chosen and acquired relationships they can offer.

It is necessary to add a caveat here. Moreno-Mínguez, Martínez-Fernández and Carrasco-Campos [ 27 ] point out that in Southern European countries, where family policies have been residual, the family is still the main agent for providing inter-generational care. Naldini and Jurado [ 28 ] seem to agree that Southern European countries were, until recently, ‘familialistic’, but that also these countries have moved from the family/kinship model towards a dual-earner family model, constituted by national policies. Although there are exceptions of countries where the family/kinship solidarity model remains powerful, such as in Italy, the reasoning in this article refers to Western societies.

2.2. The Great Disembedding

The discussed theories shed some light on the rise of individualism and the changing role of kin ties, but are still not sufficient to convey the need for strengthening families. For this, the insights of Charles Taylor are called in. Taylor [ 29 , 30 ] refers to the great disembedding as the loosening of ties of clans, communities and the mandatory customs, traditions, rituals and religious obligations that come with it. Before modernisation, people could not imagine themselves outside their social context. ‘How would it be if I would emigrate?’ or ‘What would happen if I convert to another religion?’, that one can ask such questions nowadays refers, according to Taylor [ 29 ] (p. 60), to this disembedding. The great disembedding, with its “unprecedented primacy to the individual” [ 30 ] (p. 146), marks the end of the “triple embeddedness, where human agents are embedded in society, society in the cosmos, the cosmos in the divine” [ 30 ] (p. 152). Following Tocqueville’s description of ‘Société des ordres’, Taylor [ 29 ] describes a division between societies, where hierarchy and mediated access are dominant and societies in which horizontal relationships with direct access prevail. Before modernisation, one always belonged to a part of a hierarchically-ordered chain, a chain in which a farmer was connected to a feudal lord, who, in turn, was indebted to the king. Families were actually a kind of large household in which also people who were no relatives lived together with the core group: employees, students, a cousin who came to learn a trade, etc. [ 29 ] (p. 148). These households were strongly patriarchal under the undisputed authority of the male head. Dependency relationships and hierarchy were paramount. Everyone knew their place; hierarchical and mediated relationships determined the image [ 29 ] (p. 149). In modern society, traditional vertical ordinances to establish safety are replaced by modern horizontal ordinances expressed in ideas of self-consciousness, self-determination, self-realisation and self-assertion [ 31 ]. In modern horizontal societies, everyone has direct access and equal distance to the center of power, marked by an impersonal egalitarian organisation, where citizens have a direct relationship with the state. But, as Habermas [ 32 ] demonstrates, in contemporary Western societies the state has become increasingly disconnected from its citizens.

2.3. Market-Forces in Health Care and the Disconnecting of Life-World and System-World

The rise of commerce is linked to the rise of social justice. The work of Fukuyama [ 18 , 19 , 33 ], Shermer [ 22 , 34 ] and Pinker [ 20 ] demonstrates how commerce, competition, individualism, democracy and social justice recall each other and ultimately lead to less violence and more security. The rise of commerce in health care, however, has side effects that are related to commodification. Pellegrino [ 35 ] underlines that the commodification of health care means that the relationship between clients and professionals becomes a commercial relationship, which legitimises the rules of commerce and the pursuit of self-interest. In a market-driven (neoliberal) health care system, commodities are fungible; professionals can be substituted for any other similar commodity, meaning that provided quality and price are the same. In this view of health care, physicians and patients become commodities too. Until the 1980s, social workers, general practitioners and community (mental) health nurses in most Western countries knew families and their social surroundings well, accompanying their illnesses, life events and worries. Professionals stayed close, knowing that they depend on trust that stems from intimate personal relationships. Nowadays, in the market-driven health care system, health care providers look for ways to expand their services. The incentives of the market hinder the activation of self-care and informal care [ 36 ]. The professional dominance undermines people’s self-confidence and their capacity to solve problems themselves [ 37 ].

The profusion of rules and protocols for the purpose of replicable treatment, accountability and efficiency to establish an equal playing field for market players, widens the gap between what Habermas [ 32 ] calls the life-world and the system-world. The central problem of contemporary societies, according to Habermas, is how to create conditions for what he refers to as ‘communicative action’, which is the process of reaching a common understanding. Core of his Theory of Communicative Action is the ‘colonisation of life-world by systems’, meaning that the private sphere is penetrated by the strategic communication of systems in the public sphere. The system-world is characterised by rationalisation, efficiency, calculability, control and predictability. Central to the life-world is a common understanding and a shared sense of identity. It is the latent sum of all sorts of assumptions about our identity, values, desires and beliefs. In the life-world, values, achievements and beliefs are constantly reaffirmed. Habermas observes colonisation processes throughout society. In Habermas’ view, communities have fewer spheres for communicative action than state agencies. In other words, the community of generalised others is transforming into a contract-based state of taxpayers without responsibility for each other. Communicative action deals with creating a so called ideal ‘speech situation’: a situation free from coercion, where every subject is allowed to speak, to question, to express and to assert; a situation wherein the colonisation of the life-world by systems is pushed back. The logic of the system tends to overpower people’s logic. Burns and Früchtel [ 38 ] underline that FGC is needed to cure the unhelpful side effects of a legal and professional welfare state system.

2.4. Family Group Conferencing

Drawing on Habermas’ critical social theory, Hayes and Houston [ 39 ] re-work aspects of FGC processes, by emphasising the possibility of an empowering dialogue between families, who embody the life-world and professionals, who represent the system-world. They project Habermas’ theory as a way to constitute a moral practice by communicational procedures that address issues relating to the use of power and the need for recognition between subjects.

Although there are different approaches and applications of FGC in different contexts, there is consensus on its core features [ 40 ]. FGC is a facilitated group dialogue where citizens take matters into their own hands, solve problems and make plans following a structured decision-making process. Professionals contribute but their role in FGC is not to make decisions. Professionals rather facilitate decision-making, by providing information, resources and expertise [ 39 ]. FGC resembles the form that problem-solving takes in traditional societies, in which families or small communities handle their own issues, rather than exporting them into the hands of professionals [ 41 ].

The core idea of FGC is a meeting of all family members, state officials, and other persons who are involved with the family, in order to establish a plan for the care and protection of individual family members. The meeting is organised by an independent coordinator, who creates conditions so that the primary group can come to terms and find solutions during a private time where professionals are not present. Everyone who can contribute is invited to participate—not only family members, but also friends, neighbours and community members, such as teachers and sports coaches. Through a democratic process the family establishes its own plan on which everyone needs to agree.

Since its introduction in the 1980s in New Zealand, FGC is increasingly organised in child protection cases across the Western world [ 41 ]. More recently, in various countries, a broader perspective of situations where FGC could be implemented has taken over, which emphasises not only the capabilities of families, but of the civil society in general. The decision-making process of FGC is applied in all sorts of situations where social groups take matters in their own hands. Examples hereof are the organisation of FGC for social assistance recipients [ 42 ] and in elderly care [ 43 ]. In a study of FGC in Dutch mental health care, promising applications of FGC, with different target groups, are seen, such as with multi offenders, homeless youth, residents at risk of eviction and psychiatric patients who are threatened with coercion. But, it is also used in situations of nuisance and liveability problems in neighbourhoods, where so called community conferences are used [ 44 , 45 ]. Extremely marginalised people with multiple health and social problems seem to benefit from the reunion with their relatives.

The underlying philosophy of FGC assumes that primary groups are able to find workable solutions, whether or not supported by the expertise of professionals. In contrast with traditional intervention models, FGC encourages the family to determine the agenda. FGC is sensitive to the culture, lifestyle and history of families. It achieves results through the family and therefore uses the resources that exist within communities, although the role of professionals (such as social workers, community [mental] health nurses and general practitioners) does not cease to apply. Professionals refer clients to FGC, they are present during parts of the conference and they provide information and support, but also open up resources from other agencies. In cases of severe and ongoing health and social problems, research has shown that families and near communities are willing to get involved, but only when the continuity of care of professionals is guaranteed [ 36 , 45 ]. This sheds light on a new perspective on social work and community mental health practices, namely work that is done by various actors from the civil and professional society.

3. A Case Study of FGC

From 2011 until 2015, the process and impact of 82 family group conferences in different mental health care settings in The Netherlands [ 44 , 45 ] were examined. Findings indicate FGC’s potential in the recovery of kin ties, the regaining of ownership and the restoring of belongingness.

The 82 conferences were retrospectively reconstructed using Stake’s [ 46 ] (multiple) case study approach. Responsive methods [ 47 , 48 ] were used to provide a platform for clients, their social networks, professionals and FGC coordinators, to describe process and impacts of the conference from their perception.

The case study highlighted in this paper is derived from this project. The interviewed family consisted of two adult sons (both in their twenties), their mother and stepfather. Besides these four interviewees, a stepsister (daughter of the stepfather), a social worker (a man in his fifties who was employed with the local social welfare services) who became involved with the family in early 2012 and who referred the family to FGC, and the FGC coordinator, were interviewed. In total, seven interviews were held, that lasted, on average, 60–90 min. The interviews were audio-recorded, additionally transcribed and analysed, with the help of ATLAS.ti. A group member check was organised to validate the interview findings [ 49 ].

The reason for highlighting this particular case is that it demonstrates how families in contemporary Western societies can lose each other, and, as they are not socially embedded in near communities, they lack social support that extended family members, friends and neighbours might have to offer in the upbringing of their children. The case does not stand for contemporary Western family life, but it holds exemplary value, in the sense that social work and community mental health practices with similar challenges (families facing multiple problems who lack social support) can extract lessons from this case study when organising FGC [ 50 ].

4. The Case—Two Troublesome Adult Sons and Their Uncertain Parents

A family with two adult sons (27 and 25 years) is living in a regional area in the north of The Netherlands with an overrepresentation of persons with a low socioeconomic status. Both sons are still living at home. They have been unemployed for a while, use drugs and alcohol excessively, and cause a lot of trouble (petty crimes and oppressive behaviour). Above all, they are terrorising the lives of their mother and stepfather. The situation gets out of hand when, during a barbeque party in the back garden, the garage is set on fire and the mother’s jewels get stolen. A social worker is appointed to help in solving the problems. He quickly realises that individual care trajectories for the family members probably would not help in reaching a settlement. Besides, the mother is anxious and afraid that she will be stigmatised when referred to mental health care. According to her, the problems are interrelated. It is mainly both sons who contribute to the problematic situation, so she questions if there is any sense for individual trajectories:

That needs to be solved here! You do not want to burden other people, but problems need to be shared with your family as they are more closely related. […] They knew that the situation got out of hand. (mother)

As the situation is so threatening, the social worker wants a family group conference to be organised in the short-term. The conference can be quickly deployed as there are no waiting lists for this type of service. The conference makes it possible to discuss the problematic situation from different angles as, besides of the sons and their parents, their significant others are also invited for the conference. An aunt (sister of the mother) and uncle and two stepsisters (children of the stepfather) agree to participate.

Prior to the conference, the parents tried numerous times to solve the problems during informal discussions with their sons at the kitchen table when having dinner. These discussions, however, quickly turned into conflicts, and, in addition, the sons left the dinner angrily. As the family group conference is organised in a neutral environment, namely a community centre, in the presence of a wider circle of bystanders (the extended family), it is more difficult for the sons to leave the discussion, in comparison with participating in an informal situation with just their parents. Both sons act indifferently towards the conference, but finally decide to participate, as they feel pity for their mother and, to a lesser degree, their stepfather. The purpose of the conference is to establish a plan to help the sons to find accommodation on their own and a paid job, so that the mother and stepfather are relieved from troubles and worries.

The conference is organised four weeks after the referral. The private time of the conference lasts for a long time and is very intense. At a certain moment, it becomes very emotional for the mother, so she bursts into tears. Subsequently, a sister of the mother and the daughter of the stepfather confront both sons with the misery they are causing to their mother and stepfather:

I said to them: “When are you both finally gonna say sorry to my sister? When are you finally gonna do so? You have treated her like an animal! Why are you making the life of my sister such a misery? Where do you think this will contribute to?”. (sister of the mother)

My stepdaughter also started yelling: “Why are you not working? Why is the police all the time coming over? Why are you troubling the life of my father and your mother?” That was really tough, but very necessary. (mother)

This is the moment when the sons finally realise the impact of their behaviour:

When my mother started crying, I felt pity for her. And finally, I thought: something needs to be changed, because I have never heard my mother’s side of the story. At home, you always leave the kitchen table angrily and you never hear of the other side. […] I looked at my brother, and thought ‘shit’, we need to convince it all to them. Then, they got to know why we had so many debts. Well, that was because of cannabis use, buying liquor, partying every night. […] Before I always kept this secret, I never told anyone about it. […] And when I finally told them, it felt like a relief. (youngest son)

It appears that because of the presence of extended family members, the sons do not dare to leave the meeting. Their aunt and uncle and stepsisters function as ‘shock absorbers’, preventing the conference from stalling. As they confront the sons with their behaviour (different viewpoints that were not shared during the informal meetings at the family’s kitchen table), the sons finally start to realise that something should be changed for the better.

One fundamental principle of FGC is that participants should not only be the owner of their problems, but also become the owner of the potential solution, by establishing their own plan. Ownership of the process is feasible when professionals dare to let the primary group make up a plan to reduce risks. Nevertheless, this is not an easy task in threatening situations. Professionals provide information and support the participants in reaching a plan. When a plan is established, professionals can review whether or not it is realistic and plausible that the threatening situation will no longer occur.

During the preparation and the conference itself, the social worker radiates trust in the family’s capacity to come up with a workable plan. At the end of the conference, he assesses whether all problems are covered and concludes that the conference has more potential to reach an overall solution than individual care trajectories. In the case of this family, individual trajectories, according to the social worker, could never had the same impact and would have cost a fortune:

In the end, one should make a calculation. Think about the situation when this method was not deployed, what would have been the risks afterwards? The mother would have been send to the local mental health clinic, and the police would have been involved sixteen times more! That are just Euro marks! (social worker)

The impact and the quality of the plan is linked to the role and the position of the coordinator, a man who is originally from the same region as the family and who works in his professional life as a piano tuner. His role as an independent fellow citizen is highly appreciated by the family and the social worker. During the preparation, the coordinator is accessible, even during the night time and in weekends, and he has a non-judgmental attitude towards the situation. In this case, as well as in other cases from our research project, it seems that clients who have a troubled history with representatives of the professional society, have less trouble with a fellow citizen. As coordinators are independent and free of ties with agencies, they can also use words that could never be used by professionals. Illustrative is a memo made just before the member check meeting with the participants of the case that was organised after analysis of the individual interviews. This member check should have initially been held in a community center in order to validate intermediate findings from the interviews:

At the supreme moment, the family does not show up [we—researchers and FGC coordinator—are waiting for them in a local community center not far from their home]. When we call them and try to convince them to come over, they act reluctant. The coordinator immediately takes over the telephone and tells the mother in her own dialect [Gronings] that it is very rude to let people come over from far and not showing up themselves. We get into the car and ten minutes later we evaluate in informal circumstances at their kitchen table the positive outcomes of the conference. (empirical memo)

Shortly after the conference, the oldest son starts living with his girlfriend and finds a job. The youngest son is still living with his mother and stepfather, but is no longer causing trouble and has found a job as well. Nine months later, during a fellow-up interview, the mother expresses her satisfaction with the outcomes of the conference: both her sons have almost fulfilled their debts and made other friends. Another side effect is that professionals are no longer involved in this situation.

5. Discussion

5.1. the alienated individual and the need for a cultural environment.

The presented case demonstrates the difficulty of developing authority and loyalty in a composed family of kin and non-kin ties. It also shows how a life-world led intervention, such as FGC, helps to widen the social circle and opens up clogged channels of solidarity. In sticking to a modest role, the social worker displayed a remarkable view on his profession by facilitating social work performed by divergent actors and thus encouraging thick solidarity within the extended family. He appeared well-aware of the fact that state agencies can hinder solidarity and unintentionally reproduce dependency on professionals.

Long before Robert Putnam documented the atomisation of society, in Bowling Alone [ 6 ], Nisbet [ 51 ] described how the state erodes the roles of associations, social institutions and communities. Although slowly transforming, social institutions can be seen as cultural produced patterns that already existed before we were born, which were delivered to us by previous generations and which will still exist when we are gone. Examples of such institutions are language, family, marriage, friendship, law, religion, education and economy. Institutions are natural, tacit and powerful sources of regulation, which provide a stable cultural environment, alleviating people from uncertainty [ 52 ]. The characteristics of institutions have both an encouraging and a discouraging effect. Loyalties, bonds, routines and traditions produce security and continuity, but also limit freedom of choice.

The unbridled behaviour of the sons in the highlighted case can be viewed as a lack of moral upbringing, but also as an erosion of a particular social institution. The sons and their parents seemed not sufficiently embedded in a wider social system. The regulatory properties of structures beyond the person appear powerless. The individual family members might be liberated from all sorts of obligations and traditions, but they did not stand in for one another and did not make an effort to maintain the integrity of their shared life. An environment that provides physical, psychological and socio-cultural needs, remains crucial for survival. In the case of this family, a wider support network, enacted by extended family members, was required, to meet the demands of life. FGC, opened up the possibility of calling in these ‘auxiliary troops’. The case illustrates the downsides of freedom, horizontalisation and the lack of authority that comes with it. Institutional theory does not, however, explain what is really going on. The presented sociological theories and historical insights that we have shared so far are helpful, but not sufficient, for understanding the need for the strengthening of primary groups. Therefore, the sphere theory of Peter Sloterdijk [ 53 , 54 , 55 ] is brought in.

5.2. Co-Isolation in Bubbles and Spheres

Sloterdijk describes how people surround themselves with spatial spheres (their home, a community, a nation) to gain a sense of feeling being protected against others and against the world. People seek protection in their houses, parks and nations, but also in intimate relationships. The sphere that people share in intimate relationships forms a barrier against outside dangers and offers solidarity for those inside. All relationships based on solidarity are, in Sloterdijk’s view, sphere formations. But, in the world of expanding globalisation, the synthesis of community, religion and politics in one great monosphere is evaporated and transforms into a “super tribalistic psychological community”, where everyone increasingly ends up in a state of co-isolation [ 54 ]. People are living in ‘bubbles’ that are separated from each other by foam. Through internet and social media, spheres of immunity against dangers from the outside are built with likeminded others. In the presented case, the foam in between the bubbles of the sons and their parents, envisioned a herd of independents, desperately in search for commonalities against a background of total atomisation—even the search for commonalities itself is ambivalent. Sloterdijk describes that such bubbles are doomed to burst apart.

The sphere theory of Sloterdijk helps us to understand the difficulties of families and communities in addressing social problems. It reveals that solidarity is only felt for those who share the same sphere and that even this commitment is ambivalent. It also helps in understanding why a focused intervention, like FGC, that has no other ambition beyond strengthening the problem-solving of the primary group, holds promise for succeeding. The sphere theory makes it understandable why grown-up children and their parents, such as those presented in the case study, can easily lose each other. It reveals why the loss of solidarity between the disaffected sons and their uncertain parents impaired the immunity of the whole family—Even to such an extent that the state agencies nearly took over. The case illustrates that, in isolated bubbles, it is hard for parents to connect with their adult children as they live in their own sphere. Moreover, when parents are not embedded in a supportive community themselves, it is also hard for them to learn the art of parenting from other parents.

Even the civil society and professional society themselves are co-isolated and locked up in separate bubbles. FGC, and other life-world led interventions, can offer a platform to join the forces and regain solidarity on a small-scale. In a way, these interventions can be seen as an attempt to accomplish Habermas’ ideal speech situation. In the described case, the colonisation of the life-world by the system-world was not only pushed back, redressing the balance between the life-world and system-world, but also a dialogue and common understanding between the two worlds emerged in a concrete situation. The social worker, therefore, could stay aloof, which encouraged the primary group to make their own plan.

It is likely that the state would have intervened with legal actions when the family in the presented case did not have an established plan. That the plan succeeded in this case meant a shift of power from a state agency to the family. In other words, the colonisation of the life-world by strategic action of the system-world was prevented.

6. Conclusions

In the presented case, and in other cases studied, the shared life events of precarity do not always lead to thick solidarity, nor do their relationships appear as enduring entities. The recent studies into FGC disclose complex forms of sacrifice and self-interest, of solidarity and calculation, of generosity and obligatory giving and of intimacy and aloofness. Do life-world led interventions, like FGC, invoke new forms of loyalties, involvement and social embeddedness and therefore, perhaps less freedom? In the presented case, the sons became aware of their moral obligations, mutual respect was restored and the freedom to do whatever they wanted was limited. Some sort of ownership was, nevertheless, established; everyone, including the sons, had contributed to the decision-making process when they took part in the family group conference.

In the introduction of this paper, the question was raised of how the need for life-world interventions, like FGC, could be understood. As sketched, the rise of social security, civil rights and horizontal relationships brought individual freedom, but also weakened kin ties. The protective features of larger supportive familial networks, nonetheless, are crucial to survive in contemporary Western societies, while state agencies only have a limited capacity to strengthen these networks.

A social intervention, which aims to strengthen of primary groups, with a specific, but modest, ambition, such as FGC, contributes to small-scale solidarity. This ambition is not inclined to establish broad social cohesion within society, but to restore immunity (protection) and solidarity in primary groups, resolving issues with those (family, neighbours, colleagues) who share a sphere (a situation, a process, a fate). The need for life-world led interventions in contemporary Western societies is understandable, considering the weakening of kin ties and the loss of thick solidarity within and between social groups, while the rational and calculating methods of the system-world do not have the potential to strengthen the communities at stake, nor to alleviate the co-isolation of individuals and families. Its productive power stems from a shift of power from state agencies to families and communities, from public to private spheres and from the professional to the civil society. In widening social circles and opening up clogged channels of solidarity, life world-led interventions help primary groups to meet the challenges connected to the ambivalent commitment of individualistic cultures in contemporary Western societies.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Edith Cowan University who provided funds to G.d.J. to come over to The Netherlands to write this paper together with G.S.

Ethical Statement

All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the VU University Medical Center (EMGO+).

Author Contributions

G.S. was responsible for the literature review. G.d.J. wrote the case study report.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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What Is Kinship Care?

Kin­ship care is when rel­a­tives step up to raise chil­dren when their par­ents can’t care for them for the time being. Today, more than  2 . 5 mil­lion chil­dren are in kin­ship care in the Unit­ed States. If you were raised by a grand­par­ent, an aunt or a close friend, you were raised under kin­ship care.

Types of Kin­ship Fostering

What are the three types of kin­ship-based sup­port? There is no uni­form def­i­n­i­tion of kin­ship care, but there are three some­times over­lap­ping categories:

Pri­vate or Infor­mal Kin­ship Care

These are arrange­ments made by fam­i­lies, with or with­out legal recog­ni­tion of the caregiver’s sta­tus. Clear prac­tice guide­lines and the col­lec­tion of accu­rate, con­sis­tent child-lev­el infor­ma­tion are need­ed to know the num­ber of chil­dren liv­ing in infor­mal kin­ship arrange­ments (facil­i­tat­ed by child wel­fare agencies).

Diver­sion Kin­ship Care

In some cas­es, child wel­fare agen­cies work with par­ents to facil­i­tate mov­ing a child to a relative’s care, some­times by open­ing a case and some­times by doing an assess­ment or child pro­tec­tion inves­ti­ga­tion (arrange­ments vary wide­ly by juris­dic­tion). This cat­e­go­ry, called kin­ship diver­sion (also known as fos­ter care diver­sion, vol­un­tary place­ment or safe­ty plan­ning, among oth­er terms), includes all chil­dren who have come to the atten­tion of child wel­fare agen­cies and live with a rel­a­tive or close friend of the fam­i­ly. Most of these chil­dren — an esti­mat­ed 100 , 000 to 300 , 000 — are not in for­mal fos­ter care .

Licensed or Unli­censed Kin­ship Care

In 2021 , more than 134 , 000  chil­dren and teens were in kin­ship fos­ter care, defined as liv­ing with rel­a­tives but remain­ing in the legal cus­tody of the state. This group rep­re­sents 35 % of all chil­dren in fos­ter care , up from 27 % in  2011 .

The Deep-Root­ed His­to­ry of Kin­ship Care

Through­out his­to­ry, fam­i­lies have cared for rel­a­tive chil­dren dur­ing times of ill­ness, pover­ty, incar­cer­a­tion, death, vio­lence or oth­er fam­i­ly crises. Many cul­tures con­tin­ue this prac­tice to this day, often out­side of the social ser­vice or court systems.

In the past, many pro­fes­sion­als have won­dered whether child wel­fare sys­tems might do a bet­ter job rais­ing chil­dren than kin fam­i­lies with finan­cial or oth­er chal­lenges. Today, most child wel­fare pro­fes­sion­als agree that plac­ing chil­dren with appro­pri­ate kin is the best liv­ing sit­u­a­tion for chil­dren whose par­ents aren’t able to care for them safe­ly at home.

To learn more about kin­ship diver­sion prac­tice, read Vari­a­tions in the Use of Kin­ship Diver­sion   Among Child Wel­fare Agen­cies .

Some Facts About Kin­ship Care

• One in 11 chil­dren lives in kin­ship care at some point before turn­ing  18 .
• One in five black chil­dren spends time in kin­ship care at some point.

What are some kin­ship care benefits?

Com­pared to chil­dren in the gen­er­al fos­ter care pop­u­la­tion, kids in kin­ship care tend to be:

• bet­ter able to adjust to their new environment;
• less like­ly to expe­ri­ence school disruptions;
• less like­ly to expe­ri­ence behav­ioral and men­tal health problems;
• more sta­ble — they move less than kids in non­fam­i­ly fos­ter care set­tings and have low­er rates of re-abuse; and
• more like­ly to stay with their sib­lings and main­tain life­long con­nec­tions to family. 

Kin­ship care also helps to min­i­mize trau­ma for chil­dren and pre­serve their cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty and con­nec­tions to their communities. 

Kids and their kin­ship care­givers need assis­tance; often care­givers do not real­ize they are eli­gi­ble for finan­cial help or oth­er services:

• Few­er than 12 % of kin­ship care­givers receive help from Tem­po­rary Assis­tance for Needy Fam­i­lies, although near­ly all are eli­gi­ble, accord­ing to the Foundation’s report, Step­ping Up for Kids .
• A recent report by the Admin­is­tra­tion for Chil­dren and Fam­i­lies ( ACF )  found that less than a third ( 30 %) of kin­ship care­givers received fos­ter care train­ing and even small­er shares received oth­er sup­port ser­vices such as peer sup­port groups ( 9 %) and respite care ( 4 %).
• The same report found that 22 % of kin­ship care­givers received help obtain­ing Med­ic­aid for chil­dren in their care, com­pared to 54 % of non­rel­a­tive fos­ter caregivers.
• Just over half of for­mal kin­ship care­givers ( 52 %) and vol­un­tary kin­ship care­givers ( 58 %) received food assis­tance ( WIC or food stamps).
• Hous­ing sup­port was received by only 6 % of vol­un­tary kin­ship care­givers and 9 % of for­mal kin­ship caregivers.
• In addi­tion, kids in kin­ship care with cog­ni­tive and aca­d­e­m­ic dif­fi­cul­ties are less like­ly to receive need­ed ear­ly inter­ven­tion or spe­cial edu­ca­tion ser­vices than their peers in non­rel­a­tive fos­ter care, and unmet needs are espe­cial­ly pro­nounced in vol­un­tary kin­ship fam­i­lies, accord­ing to a  2020 ACF report .

Inter­est­ed to know what young peo­ple think about kin­ship care? Check out Bound­less Futures: Build­ing a Youth-Focused Child Wel­fare Sys­tem , authored by the 2019 class of fos­ter youth interns for the Con­gres­sion­al Coali­tion on Adop­tion Insti­tute. Two of the interns’ reports (No. 3  and No. 10 ) pro­pose kin­ship pol­i­cy improvements.

Kin­ship Care Resources for Agen­cies and Caseworkers

• Engag­ing Kin­ship Care­givers: Man­ag­ing Risk Fac­tors in Kin­ship Care (a five-part video train­ing series)
• Sup­port­ing Kin­ship Care­givers Through the Fam­i­ly First Pre­ven­tion Ser­vices Act
• Kin­ship Care When Par­ents Are Incarcerated
• Vari­a­tions in the Use of Kin­ship Diver­sion Among Child Wel­fare Agencies
• Does Your Child Wel­fare Agency Divert Chil­dren to Kin?

Kin­ship Pol­i­cy Resources

• Step­ping Up for Kids: What Gov­ern­ment and Com­mu­ni­ties Should Do to Sup­port Kin­ship Families
• Keep­ing Kids in Fam­i­lies: Trends in U.S. Fos­ter Care Placement

Resources for Kin­ship Care­givers and Their Communities

• Five Ways to Help Kin­ship Care­givers Now
• Cop­ing with the Unique Chal­lenges of Kin­ship Care (a four-part video train­ing series)

See more Kin­ship Care resources from the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s Child Wel­fare Infor­ma­tion Gate­way .

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What should every child protection agency do to ensure that children are placed with kin?

When child protective services determines a child must be removed from the home and placed in foster care, that child deserves to be placed with kin. Those kin may be defined as relatives by blood or marriage, as well as other people who are close to the child and family to where the relationship is treated as “chosen family,” also known as fictive kin . Like all children in out-of-home care, those placed with kin are entitled to resources and supports that help protect their safety, promote their well-being, and facilitate permanency — ideally through safe reunification with their family.

Keeping children with their kin when safely possible is a core principle of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), the gold standard of child welfare practice . There are other federal policies that support kinship caregivers , such as the Family First Prevention Services Act , which provides open-ended entitlement funding for important services.

This brief describes three key principles for prioritizing and supporting kinship placements in child welfare :

• Advance a kin-first culture
• Provide supports for children, their parents, and kinship caregivers
• Identify and provide community-based supports

It offers questions for consideration to help child protection agency leaders further explore how they might apply these principles to improve the permanency and well-being of children in kinship care and their families. 1

Kinship care by the numbers

Nationally, about 35% of all children placed in out-of-home care are living with kin. Trends vary across the country, with state-level rates ranging from 10% to 53%.

Source: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data, available through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect Data. Analyzed by Casey Family Programs, June 2022.

Principle 1: Advance a kin-first culture

Numerous studies have established the benefits of kinship care. The research demonstrates that compared to non-kin foster care, kinship care yields greater placement stability , lower rates of re-abuse, better behavioral health, and a higher likelihood of permanency. Despite these findings, child protection agencies place only about one-third of children in formal out-of-home care with kin, and the rates vary significantly among jurisdictions across the country.

When children are not with their family, they can experience a lot of confusion about who they are and where they come from. Knowing your family and culture, and being connected to those values and traditions, provide an important sense of stability.

– Aleks Talsky, Alumnus of Foster Care and Board Member for the National Advisory Council for Children’s Legal Representation, Wisconsin

Accordingly, child welfare practice must shift universally to a kin-first approach , in which kinship placement is the expectation and goal rather than a practice exception or alternative, and all children in out-of-home care are placed safely with kin, who subsequently are provided with caregiver resources and supports . An agency committed to a kin-first approach is centered on the input of the children and their family, seeks to explore and engage the whole family network, and strives to make every child’s first — and only — placement with kin. In instances when placement with kin is not possible, the search for kin who can provide a safe home or connection for the child should be ongoing and include both maternal and paternal kin. A shift to a kin-first approach requires agency leadership to establish a strong vision, clear goals, and firm expectations for kinship placement — grounded in the value that children have a moral right to be with people they know — followed by concrete changes to agency policies, frontline practices, and organizational culture.

ICWA specifically promotes the rights of American Indian/Alaska Native children to be connected to their tribe and their extended family, elders, community, and culture. Consultation with tribes must occur before placement decisions are made, and tribal definitions of family relationships must be respected.

Several well-established child welfare approaches support the universal expectation and goal of placing children in out-of-home care with kin, including:

• Active engagement of families.
• Reducing barriers to kinship care.
• Creating administrative barriers for non-kin foster care placements.

Active engagement of families

• Hold family team meetings to meaningfully and actively engage parents, youth, and kin in strength-based safety planning. These meetings should be held as early as possible, at key decision points throughout the family’s involvement with the system, and at times and in locations convenient and familiar to the family. Family team meetings are important opportunities to discuss the unique elements of kinship care, ask children questions about their identity and culture and who they want to stay or live with , identify the natural and community-based supports available to the family, and inform kin about the options they have to participate in a child’s care and placement (including the possibility and requirements to become a licensed foster parent). Kin who cannot provide a home still can offer children connection and a sense of belonging, and therefore should be engaged at the outset of the family’s involvement with the agency. Kinship caregiver advocates or navigators should co-facilitate the team meetings to help ensure that family voice and choice are at the center of the safety planning. Family engagement should continue throughout the duration of involvement with the child welfare system, especially at key decision points.
• Employ rigorous family finding , using tools such as genograms, case mining, and youth and family interviews. Some agencies have dedicated staff positions or created special units devoted to family finding .  

Reducing barriers to kinship care

• Reimagine a universal approach to licensing that prioritizes safe placement with kin, with any other form of placement considered the exception. This approach should recognize and acknowledge the child’s relationship with kin as the primary item to assess in approving a kinship caregiver for licensure, and efforts should be made to waive or uphold a process for waiving non-safety related standards for kin. 2  Child protection agency routine processes for foster home studies and licensing, however, are based on non-kin caregivers as applicants. Kinship caregivers, who often are called on to help a child suddenly and more likely to have fewer caregiver resources at their disposal than traditional foster parents, experience significantly more barriers to licensing. Ultimately, the philosophy and goal of a kin-first agency is to approve licensure of kinship caregiver families, not rule them out. (See:  How can we prioritize kin in the home study and licensure process, and make placement with relatives the norm? and How did A Second Chance Inc. transform kinship care in Allegheny County? ) Retrofitting a process currently designed for non-kin caregivers is not sufficient. The licensure process must be tailored to kinship care 3 and include the full participation and diverse perspectives of families and kinship caregivers with lived experience in the child welfare system.
• Reduce logistical and financial barriers . Providing financial supports, emergency child care, and transportation of children to their school are examples of ways to reduce barriers to placement of children with kin. Engaging kinship families is the best way to understand the barriers they face and develop strategies to address those barriers. Agencies can work with experienced kinship caregivers to design a process that supports the financial needs and logistical concerns that they identify.
• Develop border agreements to support timely placement with kin living in another state. Child protection agencies can create border agreements to allow for voluntary placement with kin, including developing a safety plan, while ensuring that the requirements of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children are met.
• Review and revisit existing policies . Often, jurisdictional policies unnecessarily restrict the approval of kin to serve as caregivers. The pressure to locate immediate placements for children also can result in the rejection of kinship homes, particularly those that require modification to meet current certification standards. Fortunately, states are allowed to exempt kinship care providers from compliance with non-safety-related requirements and should exercise that flexibility when reasonable. Utilizing waivers, offering grace periods, and providing other forms of flexibility in meeting non-safety-related licensing standards (which should be evaluated and not considered presumptive) are critical strategies in facilitating placement with kin.  

Creating administrative barriers for non-kin foster care placements

• Establish additional burdens or other checks and balances to make non-kin foster care placements more challenging to approve . Concurrently, to ensure placement with kin is the presumptive placement type, create a kin-first firewall . Agency leadership can increase the burden on staff seeking non-kin foster care placements (such as requiring additional paperwork/permission), or institute a director-level approval process for non-kin placements. While these technical strategies are insufficient on their own, they may help shift practice to focusing on kin first.

Questions to consider:

• What is standing in the way of placing most children in out-of-home care with kin?
• What policies and programs are in place to ensure children’s first and only foster care placement is with kin?
• How can our agency measure success and ensure accountability to practices that require and/or prioritize first placement with kin?
• What formal onboarding processes are in place to ensure that new staff can immediately follow our agency’s kin-first approach?
• How could our jurisdiction reassess existing home study and licensing criteria to place more children safely with kin, in keeping with national licensing standards?
• In what ways do our placement priorities and approval policies align with ICWA by prioritizing placement for all children in foster care within their extended families and existing communities?
• How does our agency honor families’ own definitions of kin and “chosen family”?
• How does our agency support kin as they navigate relationships within the family and the system itself?
• How are family finding, family team meetings, and other strategies being used to engage parents and kin in decision-making about placement?
• How are kinship caregivers with lived experience engaged so that our agency can better understand and address the needs of kin who are asked to care for a child?

Principle 2: Provide supports for children, their parents, and kinship caregivers

If the child protection agency determines that a child cannot safely remain at home and must be placed into foster care, then the agency should assess and provide needed services to the caregiver, the parent(s), and the child throughout the entire time the child remains in out-of-home care. All children in foster care deserve to have caretakers who are provided with the same set of available financial supports and other resources, regardless of whether the caregiver family is kin or non-kin. 4

It is the responsibility of the agency, not the kinship family, to develop solutions to provide the appropriate supports in ways that are acceptable to the family and within the family’s comfort zone. Initial reticence from a kinship caregiver family to accept support is never an excuse not to provide support. Longstanding disparities in the treatment of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native families have had devastating impacts and continue to this day. As a result, some kin may be wary of any involvement by the child protection agency, even if the sincere intention is to provide support. Child protection agencies have an obligation to acknowledge, address, and seek to heal the harm of individual biases, institutional policies and practices, and systemic approaches that have contributed to current disparities. Adequately supporting family members and providing a range of options to those who are caring for — or considering caring for — their kin is part of this process.

Financial resources are one of the most challenging barriers for kinship caregivers. Poverty rates among kinship caregivers are almost twice the U.S. average, according to Pew Research Center. Research consistently has shown that compared to caregivers who are not kin, kinship caregivers have more limited social networks and resources. 5 Depending on their income, kinship caregivers who are not licensed foster parents may be eligible for increased levels of support through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which typically provides less than half of the monthly support offered to licensed foster caregivers, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and others benefits, depending on their income.

For children unlikely to reunify with their parents, the legal relationship of relative guardianship or customary adoption is one way to ensure that children are receiving the supports they need. The Title IV-E Guardian Assistance Program (GAP) incentivizes the use of relative guardianship for children in foster care, permitting states and tribes to use federal Title IV-E child welfare funds to subsidize relative guardianship up to the same rate as the state’s foster care subsidy. Kinship caregivers must be licensed to receive the support, however. As of April 2021, 40 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 10 tribes have  approved GAP plans . However,  utilization of GAP  is uneven, even across those jurisdictions with plans.

Financial support should be offered to kinship caregivers immediately, with support including active engagement of the caregiver to assess and plan for financial needs. There are a variety of ways to financially support kinship caregivers , including offering childcare subsidies, pre-licensure per diems, navigation and advocacy, and compensation parity with non-kin licensed caregivers.

Additional support for families also should include: family time ; support of healthy birth parent/caregiver relationships; trauma and behavioral health services (including the needs of parents of children exposed to trauma); working through permanency considerations; ongoing assessment of cultural and family identity; and education and independent living supports for older youth and young adults to minimize the risk of disruption. Other critical supports include opportunities for kin and birth parents to come together and learn to co-parent, communicate, and celebrate raising the child as a team.

• What efforts is our agency making to address any initial reticence to receiving support by kinship caregivers, particularly among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native families and other communities that may be reticent to accept support due to their distrust of the child protection agency?
• Is our agency assessing the needs of the child, parent(s), and kinship caregiver(s) during all kinship foster care placements to ensure that all three parties receive the most appropriate services for their needs?
• How does our agency support the financial needs of kinship caregivers and ensure parity with non-kin caregivers?
• Do the supports our agency provides children and their kinship caregivers equal to those provided for non-kin placements?
• How does our agency ensure family time for all children placed with kinship caregivers in settings that nurture love and connectedness?
• How does our agency ensure that children in kinship care have access to the behavioral health services they may need to address past trauma, and support their placement stability and reunification with family?

“The importance of the relationship between the caregiver and the biological parent is important. My relationship with my sister was greatly impacted by the fact that I had custody of her kids … that created a massive rift in our relationship that I think child welfare agencies should really focus on, in addition to focusing on the safety of the child.

– Adrian McLemore, Program Officer, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Principle 3: Identify and provide community-based supports

Community-based supports for kinship families are needed, both in partnership with and beyond the child protection agency, in order to holistically support kinship caregivers and ensure the well-being of the children in their care.

Community-based organizations can help bridge longstanding gaps in trust between child protection and families/communities, helping to mend relationships damaged by decades of over-surveillance of families, policy and practice bias, and disproportionately high rates of child removal in some communities of color. Accordingly, community-based services are best positioned within the broader child and family well-being system to support families, including kinship caregiver families. These supports should be co-designed with people who have expertise gained through lived experience with kinship care.

Kinship care supports should include kinship navigation , which provides prospective caregivers with information, referrals, and assistance applying for supports. Kinship navigator programs increase social support, improve family resources, and improve child safety and placement stability. They also can help inform the community and service providers about the needs of kinship caregivers and the children within those families. Since 2018, the federal government has provided a dedicated funding stream for kinship navigator programs through the Family First Prevention Services Act. Other mechanisms for kinship navigator funding also exist.

Other community-based services that kinship caregiver families need include support groups (including ones specific to grandparents), family therapy, and legal aid and advocacy.

• What traditional and nontraditional supports are available to children and kinship caregivers in the communities we serve?
• Are kinship navigator services available in our community, and are there additional services our agency can advocate for or expand to reach more families
• How can our agency partner with community-based organizations and people with lived experience of kinship care to better understand the needs of kinship caregivers, build trust, and co-create culturally appropriate services that provide families with the support they need to stay together and thrive?

1 Content of this brief was informed through ongoing consultation with members of the Knowledge Management Lived Experience Advisory Team. This team includes youth, parents, kinship caregivers, and foster parents with lived experience of the child welfare system who serve as strategic partners with Family Voices United , a collaboration between FosterClub, Generations United, the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, and Casey Family Programs. Members who contributed to this brief include: Aleks Talsky, Keith Lowhorne, Marquetta King, Sonya Begay, Victoria Gray, and Ryan Young. 2 According to the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families in the December 2020 Information Memorandum on the Use of Title IV-E Programmatic Options to Improve Support to Relative Caregivers and the Children in Their Care , commonly waived non-safety standards fall into three categories: home (i.e., physical characteristics and requirements of the home, proximity to the parents), caregiver (i.e., financial conditions, training standards, marital status, age), and children (i.e., number, ages, and sleeping arrangements). Some states are considering or have enacted legislation to further expand eligibility for kinship caregivers by expanding criminal exemptions that are unrelated to the safety of the child or home (i.e. California Senate Bill 354 ). 3 In September 2023, the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families published Separate Licensing or Approval Standards for Relative or Kinship Foster Family Homes in which states are encouraged to adopt alternative standards for kinship caregivers, as an alternative to case-by-case waivers. 4 If approved, the February 2023 NPRM would require equivalent financial support for kinship placements. 5 Lin, C.-H. (2014). Evaluating services for kinship care families: A systematic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 36, 36-41.

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• Child Development

Why It's So Important to Teach Kids to Be Kind

The most powerful and most useful social-emotional skill..

Updated July 3, 2023 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• Understanding Child Development
• Find a child or adolescent therapist near me
• Kindness is the most powerful and useful of all social-emotional skills.
• Performing acts of kindness improves the well-being of the giver more than the well-being of the receiver.
• Kindness paves the way for all the other important social-emotional childhood skills to be more effective.

Sam had been on his last nerve most of the day, so when his best friend refused to share a beloved game on his tablet, he demanded (within his mother’s earshot): "Kenny should go home. He’s being mean!"

As the youngest of four, Kenny had heard it all before; he ignored Sam and kept thumbing away. Sam yelled his demand louder, and his mother answered from the kitchen, "Be nice, Sam, or Kenny will want to go home."

Silenced, Sam waited his turn, visibly fuming. As Sam’s mother retold the incident to her father at dinner, his response surprised her: "Look, nice is good, but I’ll take kind over nice any day."

Doing something that benefits another when it’s not required, without anything expected in return—that is a kind thing to do. Younger children think of such things in terms of their consequences, not in terms of intentions or morality . While most folks think kindness must be taught, I’ve seen toddlers walk across the room to share a binky or softie to comfort a crying peer. What do they do next? They usually stand nearby to see if it worked. Typically, they get mellow and seem satisfied. It’s as if they know it is better to give than to receive.

And that is just what the science of kindness says. A meta-analysis from Oxford University’s KindLab found that performing acts of kindness improves the well-being of the giver more than it does the well-being of the receiver.

That is why kindness is the most powerful and useful of all social-emotional skills. It does a body good, always. It also paves the way for all the other important social-emotional childhood skills to be more effective. Sam would have eventually felt better if he’d let Kenny play on.

How do you make it matter to your child and you? Start with these strategies:

• Think, and then talk, often about kindness, positioning it as something that can be done every day. What does kindness look like in someone else? How does it feel to be kind? How does it feel to have kindness done for you, especially one that surprises you? As you answer these questions for yourself, you will be better at helping your children find the words to describe their own kindness experiences.
• Kindness is like yawning; it’s socially contagious. When adults are genuinely kind to one another, children tend to feel comfortable and more emotionally regulated. When children see it around them and hear it talked about as a value, it becomes crystal clear that kindness is expected and treasured within the family. That’s why it’s important to make it an explicit goal of family life. Of course, you’ll often miss the mark, but intention counts a lot in kindness.
• Use literature to explore acts of and stories about kindness as you read to your children and grandchildren. As you read, try to pretend you don’t already know these lessons. Ask the child, or children, to whom you are reading questions: "I wonder what will happen next?" or "How do you think the characters feel when they are being kind or unkind to one another?"

Facebook /LinkedIn images: Vladimir Borovic/Shutterstock

Kindness stories recommended by Lee Scott, chairperson of The Goddard School’s Educational Advisory Board, include Mo Willems’ “My Friend is Sad,’ Laurie Heller’s “Do Unto Others” and Bob Graham’s “How to Heal a Broken Wing.”

Kyle Pruett, M.D., is a Clinical Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and Educational Advisory Board member for The Goddard School.

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• Speech on Kindness

Speech on Kindness For Students and Children

Kindness is a virtue that many people lack but expect from others. Kindness is highly valued in all areas of life, no matter how old you are, whether you are 5 or 60 years old. This is an act of selflessness or a good deed. Kindness Talks For Children can be presented in several ways. Schools give long lectures about kindness to students and children and short lectures about kindness to students.

Promoting kindness strengthens relationships between peers and students and teachers. Taking time to cultivate kindness intentionally develops empathy and understanding between individuals, leading to deeper relationships. As relationships develop, trust develops, allowing a teaching culture to develop in which each individual feels genuine gratitude for who he or she is and what he or she contributes as an individual. While there is no denying that teachers have different needs, it is precisely what allows us to succeed in other fields by devoting sufficient time to nurturing the culture in the classroom with kindness in teaching.

Overview of the Topic

Kindness is a virtue that many do not possess, but they expect it from others. Kindness is valued in all aspects of life no matter how old one is, whether you are 5 or 60 years old. It is an act or a good deed done selflessly. The speech on Kindness For Children can be presented in various ways. Here we present a Long Speech On Kindness For Students And Children and a Short Speech On Kindness For Students for your perusal.

Long and Short Speech on Kindness For Students and Children

Long speech on kindness for children.

This format of Speech on Kindness For Students And Children is helpful for students in grades 8-12 to make a 5 minutes speech.

Good Morning everyone, I warmly welcome the Principal, teachers, and my dear friends. I am ABC (mention your name) from grade (mention the class in which you are studying) here to speak on the topic of Kindness. Kindness is a quality one possesses and acts on it by exhibiting behaviors of friendliness, generosity, and being considered. It is a benevolent attitude that one possesses.

Kindness is actually inherent to human beings and we are inculcated with and reminded of it since our childhood. Kindness can be developed through empathy. Empathy is what one feels when they put themselves in others' shoes and kindness is how they express that by helping them and making their lives a little bit easier and better.

Every living being is deserving of kindness. One only needs to have good intentions to be kind, nothing else. When one has good intentions, they are attentive to others; they lend a helping hand, lend a good ear and listen to others' problems, and help someone in need. When you show respect to your elders, it is also an act of kindness.

One should always be kind even to strangers, help them cross the road, carry their bags, even if you disagree with their opinions, make your point with compassion, be considerate of others' problems because everyone is dealing with something or other and your act of kindness can actually help them feel better about themselves. Do not be judgemental about anyone and give people a chance.

You can also be kind to your friends and siblings by helping and supporting them in every way. Sharing is the best form of kindness, sharing things or feelings and problems. Listening to others, your parents, and teachers and understanding their perspectives is also a kind act.

A kind act is not just limited to human beings. One must display kindness to animals as well. My friends are the kindest people I know. Just last week, when we were boarding the bus after school to go home, my friend saw a wounded puppy and instead of ignoring it, he tended to his wounds and took him home. Now they have a new family member named Guppy. He found a new home because one act of kindness isn't that wonderful.

Kindness is not a cowardly act; it is for the brave and the bold. Standing up for the right and helping those in need shows our truth. Kindness truly is a selfless act when one helps others without expecting anything in return. When you are kind, you lead a peaceful, happy life and you sleep better at night.

A kind act is truly magical when you are kind to someone, they forget all about their problems and even a bad day becomes a good one. Kindness has the power to change the world. The world would be a more beautiful place if we were a little kinder to each other. Let's all be kind to one another. Every day, consciously do one act of kindness. Ask yourself, "Was I kind today?"

Short Speech on Kindness For Students

This form of Speech On Kindness For Students And Children is helpful for students in grades 4-7, where they can give a short 3-minute speech in simple words .

Good morning everyone, respect the Principal, teachers, and my dear friends. I Abc (mention your name) feel grateful for the opportunity to speak about kindness. Kindness is the supreme way to show someone you care about them or your respect and love for them. Kind people are considerate, generous, friendly, affectionate, and warm.

Often kindness is perceived as naivety or weakness because it has a very gentle approach, but it is not. The prime example of kindness is Mother Teresa, who selflessly dedicated her entire life to serving sick children in a foreign country she had never been to and nothing about. She exuded kindness and that is strength in true terms.

We, too, can act upon this value by showing empathy and compassion for everyone in our lives. We can show small acts of kindness every day that will have a large impact like listening to our parents, teachers, and elders, treating everyone with equality, taking the time to actually sit and listen to a friend's problems, and instead of judging by showing them the way to be. It is also important to know that every being is deserving of kindness and compassion, be it animals or humans.

It is in kindness and the doing of it that will change you in unpredictable ways; it will enrich your life more than the ones you show kindness to and have compassion for.

Let's change the world one kind of action at a time. People often say others remember you not through gifts or money but how you made them feel. And kindness can make everyone feel better, special, and important. Isn't that a great way to be remembered by making people feel good just by being kind?

10 Line Speech on Kindness For Children

This is the easiest way to convey the message of kindness and share its importance to students in grades 1-3 :

Kindness is the act of showing love and respect for others and treating them as equals like one of us.

Kindness is more enriching for the one doing it than the one you do it for.

When one is truly kind, they do not expect anything in return from you.

It is an act of selflessness and the prime example of this is Mother Teresa. She selflessly showed the world the power of kindness.

Mother Teresa showed the world that kindness could truly heal people.

Kindness means helping someone, lending an ear, being there in times of a crisis, and standing in solidarity.

Kindness is often misunderstood to be poor quality when in reality, it has the power to change the world.

Kindness can help solve misunderstandings and form better, healthier relationships.

Kindness and compassion are the recurring things spoken about in every religion as a way to connect to others.

Kindness truly can change the world and make it a better place to live and leave for our children.

FAQs on Speech on Kindness

1. Why should children learn kindness in school?

When children take part in activities that help others who are less fortunate than them, it gives them a real perspective and underscores their luck. Generosity helps them appreciate what they have, feel useful, and encourages empathy. Kindness is a key substance that increases positivity and helps children feel good because it increases serotonin levels. This important substance affects learning, memory, mood, sleep, health and digestion. Positive children have more attention, a greater desire to learn and better creative thinking to improve school performance.

2. How to give a good speech?

While it is relatively easy to write an essay, giving a speech is a completely different matter. Relevant persuasive topics can help inform and persuade your target audience. To do this, you need to do thorough research and share valuable points to make a difference. When talking about a persuasive speech, it is important to remember that it must inform, educate, persuade or motivate the audience. In other words, you will influence them to accept your position.

The best persuasive topics are always stimulating, bold and very sharp and clear. Always remember to choose an interesting and interesting topic. It helps to hold the attention of students or readers from start to finish. Also, make sure you have the correct knowledge of the material to help answer any questions.

3. Why should students be encouraged to speak in Public?

Learning good communication takes time and effort, so high school students should take the opportunity to speak in public. Students can find many useful tips for speaking in class. In addition, by speaking in class, high school students can develop basic interpersonal skills or "soft skills". Young people need these skills when they reach adulthood, especially in the workplace. Employers increasingly expect their employees to be quality communicators; in other words, all professionals should practice active listening, critical thinking, problem-solving and time management. While speaking in class may seem like a relatively small task, it develops students' soft skills, especially active listening, critical thinking, problem-solving and time management.

4. What is the best source for English speeches for children?

There are several sources online that provide materials for the Speech on Kindness in English. Since speech giving is one of the most important aspects of examinations and students' overall growth, the materials we follow must be 100 percent accurate. Any wrong information can lead the students to fail in the examination with a really low score. Vedantu is one of the most reliable sources to prepare a speech on kindness in English. Students can also practice other topics available on the Vedantu website to get a proper insight into the examination.

3 Minute Speech on Importance of Kindness in English for Students

Good Morning everyone, Today I am going to share my views on the topic “Importance of kindness”.

There is a great saying that Kindness is doing what you can, where you are, with what you have. It also means loving yourself enough to love those around you.

Kindness  means to be good and compassionate to people around us. It may include speaking politely, being supportive, helping people, and motivating them. Kind words or little positive actions are enough to make someone happy. It is a very powerful tool that can bring a positive change in our society and in our lives. It is a universal language that crosses all the boundaries and connects hearts. 

By embracing kindness, we not only enrich our own lives but also contribute to a more compassionate and harmonious world. A kind and a world full of compassion is the need of an hour.

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The Importance of the King in The Kings Speech

The King’s Speech follows King of the United Kingdom, George VI in his time as the Duke of York, and then after his brother’s abdication, his ascension and early days of his reign as King of the United Kingdom. The film focuses mostly on his speech impediment and the various lengths he goes to cover up and suppress it. I found the film’s depiction of the monarch’s role in U.K. nationalism during the periods right before and during World War 2 to be interesting.

As the film points out, with even George himself saying it at one point, why does it matter if he is an effective speaker? The King had not held and significant power in the UK government for more than a century and was just a figure head by the time he ascended. It would make sense that the prime minster be the face of the nation during war time as they are the most powerful individual in the U.K., and not the king who might as well be a glorified celebrity. During a few points in the film George’s pedigree is symbolized and stated. In his first speech as king to his government officials, George stands in the great hall and looks upon all the portraits of the kings before him. Legendary figures who will be talked about in history books for many centuries to come, and there he stands there a stuttering man, holding the most legendary office in the kingdom. He feels he must hold himself to a higher standard as to him and many people, it is not the power of the crown that influences nationalism among the population as it does not have any, it is what the crown represents. It is not just an entity of power, but also an entity of the culture of the nation, and as its head him must fulfill his duty as the cultural leader of the UK, and rally them during wartime behind their nation.

One thought on “ The Importance of the King in The Kings Speech ”

King George was born in a royal family. The duty or leadership responsibilities are forced upon him. He did not chose this himself initially. I think the whole movie signifies King’s transition from a passive leader with denial and doubt, to a true leader who is willing to take on the responsibilities for the people.

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At Morehouse, Biden says dissent should be heard because democracy is 'still the way'

Stephen Fowler

Jeongyoon Han

President Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

President Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta.

President Joe Biden told Morehouse College's graduating class of 2024 that he's committed to serving Black voters while defending freedom and democracy in the face of "extremist forces" that he says threaten the soul of the nation.

With just six months until the general election, the speech, which was filled with religious themes of struggle and resilience, also served as a continuation of Biden's warning to his supporters of what he thinks the country would look like if Donald Trump is elected again.

"They don't see you in the future of America, but they're wrong," he said. "To me, we make history, not erase it. We know Black history is American history."

Graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement bow their heads Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. President Biden addressed the graduating class of 2024 and warned about "extremist forces" he says threaten the soul of the nation. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

Graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement bow their heads Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. President Biden addressed the graduating class of 2024 and warned about "extremist forces" he says threaten the soul of the nation.

The president's commencement address at Morehouse, a historically Black school in Atlanta, also comes as polling shows potentially lower support for his reelection efforts among Black voters and young voters, and as campus protests over conflict in Gaza have disrupted graduations around the country.

Biden said he understood angst over the direction of the country, acknowledged "dissent about America's role in the world" and said that those who have different views should have their voices heard in the name of democracy.

"That's my commitment to you," he said. "To show you: democracy, democracy democracy — it's still the way."

Biden will cap off a week of outreach to Black Americans with Morehouse commencement

Biden is set for the Morehouse graduation. Students are divided

His speech is also one of many events on his recent trip aimed at speaking to Black voters, following events with plaintiffs in the historic Brown v. Board Supreme Court case, meetings with Black Greek Letter Organizations, often known as the Divine Nine, and before he headlines an NAACP dinner in Detroit, Mich.

For weeks, several college and university campuses around the country have been roiled with student protests and encampments expressing opposition against Biden and U.S. policies and involvement around conflict in Gaza.

Morehouse has seen student demonstrations, but not occupation of campus spaces or clashes with law enforcement. Outside of the ceremony, a small number of protestors gathered while the commencement itself did not see any major disruptions.

Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College

Last week, Morehouse College President David Thomas said he would rather halt proceedings than have students escorted away for protesting.

"If my choice is 20 people being arrested on national TV on the Morehouse campus, taken away in zip ties during our commencement, before we would reach that point, I would conclude the ceremony," he said on NPR's Weekend Edition .

An attendee stands in protest with their back to President Biden as Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday in Atlanta. John Bazemore/AP hide caption

An attendee stands in protest with their back to President Biden as Biden speaks to graduating students at the Morehouse College commencement Sunday in Atlanta.

Those concerns did not come to pass. Apart from the heightened security and increased media presence, Biden's speech was met with a similar response to a typical college graduation ceremony.

More than 400 graduating students walked across the stage Sunday, and during Biden's speech a handful of students, some wearing keffiyehs , turned their chairs around to face away from the president. After the ceremony, Morehouse issued a statement praising the graduating class and their intentionally muted response to Biden.

"It is fitting that a moment of organized, peaceful activism would occur on our campus while the world is watching to continue a critical conversation," the statement reads. "We are proud of the resilient class of 2024's unity in silent protest, showing their intentionality in strategy, communication, and coordination as a 414-person unit."

DeAngelo Fletcher, Morehouse College's valedictorian, closed his address to his classmates by addressing global conflict, particularly the Israel-Hamas war.

"For the first time in our lives, we've heard the global community sing one harmonious song that transcends language and culture," he said. "It is my sense as a Morehouse Man, nay – as a human being – to call for an immediate and a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Biden's speech at Morehouse comes with intense scrutiny as many presidential horse race polls show the president lagging with young voters, Black voters and other nonwhite groups that helped propel him to a narrow victory against Donald Trump in 2020.

Those polls — for now — signal a drop in support for Biden but not necessarily an equal shift towards Donald Trump. There are also signs that some of the displeasure with Biden is more pronounced among people who aren't as likely to vote in November.

While facing a nominal challenge in the Democratic presidential primary, Biden's best-performing areas have often come in places with a large share of Black voters. For example, in Georgia's primary contest 95% of Black voters pulled a Democratic ballot, and Biden won 95% of the overall vote.

While some students, faculty and alumni expressed opposition to Biden's selection as the commencement speaker, reaction on campus during the graduation ceremony was largely positive.

Dr. Tiffany Johnson, a 50-year-old who came to the campus green at 4:30 a.m. to see her son graduate, was also excited to see Biden.

"He is the leader of the free world, the most important job in the world, and for him to come to speak to [Morehouse] graduates, to inspire them, is phenomenal," Johnson said.

Johnson said Black voters who might not support Biden are part of a "bandwagon" that do not understand what he has done for the community, and said his speech would be an ideal opportunity to share his accomplishments.

In the speech, Biden touted a track record that he says makes key investments in Black communities, including a record $16 billion funding package towards historically Black colleges and universities, protecting voting rights, and creating economic policies that strengthens Black businesses.

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Honors Program Theses and Projects

Importance of cultural awareness in speech language pathology education.

Aurora Barailo , Bridgewater State University

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Cultural awareness is a necessity when providing services to a culturally and linguistically diverse population. Culture influences a family’s’ values, religion, language preference, kin structure, child-rearing practices, roles and responsibilities of family members, and perception of health and behavior; specifically, the perception of disability (McLeod, Verdon et. al 2017). Cultural beliefs can also influence which therapy assessments are used and whether a parent chooses to access services (McLeod et. al, 2017). Cultural awareness includes knowledge and understanding of the values and norms of different cultural groups, recognition of culturally based assumptions and biases and demonstrating skills that meet the need of clients from a diverse background (Lemmon& Jackson-Bowen,2013). In order to serve diverse students, professionals should be able to recognize how their own identity has influenced their learning opportunities. Professionals must be able to assess their own attitudes towards issues of diversity and be willing to transform views that create difficulty.

Being a culturally sensitive clinician is vital in establishing trust and open communication with patients and in order to effectively diagnose and treat an individual (Lemmon& Jackson-Bowen,2013). An intervention that is not relevant to the client and not functional for their participation in daily life is not valuable (Verdon, McLeod, & Wong, 2015). Culturally and linguistically diverse children and families may not speak the dominant language or share the same culture within their social context. This also includes those exposed to multiple linguistic and cultural influences. Both of these groups have limited cultural and linguistic services available in speech language pathology services (Verdon, McLeod, Wong, 2015). The prevalence of speech sound disorders is similar in monolingual and multilingual populations; however, multilingual children are at greater risk for being both over-referred and under-referred for speech language pathology (SLP) and special education services (McLeod et. al, 2017).

As of 2010, The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Code of Ethics holds licensed and practicing speech language therapists accountable for maintaining multicultural competence (The American Speech Language Hearing Association, 2017). Although it was implied prior to 2010, it was not explicitly required. Multicultural competencies are now incorporated throughout each of the nine content areas of knowledge and skill acquisition that are needed to obtain a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). The Multi-Cultural Issues Board also increases cultural awareness for ASHA by developing policies and procedures that are responsive to cultural and linguistic influences, particularly those present in underrepresented populations (Lemmon& Jackson-Bowen,2013).

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Thesis Comittee

Dr. Meghan McCoy, Thesis Advisor

Dr. Suzanne Miller, Committee Member

Professor Glenna Caliendo, Committee Member

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Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

Recommended Citation

Barailo, Aurora. (2019). Importance of Cultural Awareness in Speech Language Pathology Education. In BSU Honors Program Theses and Projects. Item 353. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/honors_proj/353

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Chiefs' Harrison Butker blasted for commencement speech encouraging women to be homemakers

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has aggravated one of the internet's biggest culture wars by telling a class of college graduates that one of the “most important” titles a woman can hold is homemaker.

During a commencement speech last weekend at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, the NFL player railed against abortion, Pride month and Covid-19 lockdown measures.

Drawing the most viral backlash this week, however, was a section of his speech in which he addressed the female graduates specifically — telling them that it’s women who have had “the most diabolical lies” told to them.

“How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world,” Butker said. “But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

The criticisms that followed took aim at Butker as well as the NFL.

"Hey @NFL — If you want to continue to grow your female fan base and any other marginalized group (straight white men are already watching your product), come get your boy," wrote Lisa Guerrero, a former NFL sideline reporter and now an investigative journalist for "Inside Edition."

He went on to tell the graduates that his wife would agree that her life “truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.” It is her embrace of this role, he said, that made his own professional success possible.

Butker’s comments share similarities with some of the more extreme ideas around gender roles that have gained traction in communities that promote “ tradwife ” lifestyles or other relationship dynamics that center on traditional gender roles .

“Listen, there’s nothing wrong with his wife being a homemaker. Homemakers are wonderful, that’s not the point,” filmmaker Michael McWhorter, known by his more than 6 million TikTok followers as TizzyEnt, said in a video response. “The point is he seemed to be acting as if you should be ashamed if you don’t want to be a homemaker, or, ‘I know what you really want to do is just stay home and have babies.’"

The speech was the latest incident to add fuel to the flames of this increasingly vocal cultural battle, much of which is playing out online. While many prominent right-wing men have voiced such beliefs before, they’re usually confined to internet forums, podcasts and other online communities where these ideologies thrive.

A spokesperson for Butker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Benedictine College and the Kansas City Chiefs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the NFL told People Magazine that Butker "gave a speech in his personal capacity" and his "views are not those of the NFL as an organization."

"The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger," a spokesperson told the publication.

Butker, who is teammates with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, further drew surprise and criticism when he quoted Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, whose monumental career success as a global pop star has inspired college courses .

“As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt,’” he said, drawing murmurs from the crowd as he used the “Bejeweled” lyric as an analogy for why Catholic priests should not become “overly familiar” with their parishioners.

In the days since his speech, a Change.org petition for the Chiefs to dismiss Butker for “discriminatory remarks” has garnered nearly 19,000 signatures.

“These comments reinforce harmful stereotypes that threaten social progress,” the petition stated. “They create a toxic environment that hinders our collective efforts towards equality, diversity and inclusion in society. It is unacceptable for such a public figure to use their platform to foster harm rather than unity.”

Those who criticized Butker’s speech online include actor Bradley Whitford as well as DJ and rapper (and self-proclaimed Swiftie ) Flavor Flav .

But his speech was also lauded by some on the religious right, including conservative sports media personalities such as Clay Travis and Jason Whitlock , who defended Butker’s statements toward women.

“Not a word Harrison Butker says here should be remotely controversial. He’s 100% correct,” former NFL wide receiver T.J. Moe posted on X . “Those trying to convince women that being assistant VP of lending & intentionally childless at age 40 is more fulfilling than making a family and home are evil.”

Sports and culture commentator Jon Root also posted that Butker “exposed the lies that the world has been telling women.” Women, he wrote, are wrongly encouraged to climb the corporate ladder, view children as a “burden” and see marriage as “not worth pursuing.”

Still, a deluge of viewers online took issue with his attitude toward women and the LGBTQ community. Many women also rejected the premise that they would be happier staying at home in lieu of paid work, even if they do have a husband and children.

“I am moved. I actually had no idea that my life began when I met my husband,” neurosurgeon Betsy Grunch, known as Ladyspinedoc on TikTok, said sarcastically in a TikTok video . “It did not begin when I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with honors. It certainly did not begin when I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, Alpha Omega Alpha, from medical school. And I had no idea that it did not begin when I completed my residency in neurosurgery.”

Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.

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Full Text: Harrison Butker of Kansas City Chiefs Graduation Speech

The Super Bowl champ and kicker spoke about the dignity of life, masculinity, and the most important role of all: motherhood.

Editor’s Note: Harrison Butker, 28, the placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, delivered the commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, on Saturday, May 11, 2024. A transcript of his remarks is below.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Class of 2024:  I would like to start off by congratulating all of you for successfully making it to this achievement today. I'm sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined, and most likely, neither was your first couple years of college.

By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary. As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don't stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society. It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are, and where we want to go as citizens and, yes, as Catholics. One last thing before I begin, I want to be sure to thank President Minnis and the board for their invitation to speak.

When President Minnis first reached out a couple of months ago, I had originally said No. You see, last year I gave the commencement address at my alma mater, Georgia Tech, and I felt that one graduation speech was more than enough, especially for someone who isn't a professional speaker. But of course, President Minnis used his gift of persuasion. [ Laughter ] It spoke to the many challenges you all faced throughout the COVID fiasco ,and how you missed out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted. While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique. Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.

Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of the Cross during a pro- abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.

He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn't cut it.

These are the sorts of things we are told in polite society to not bring up. You know, the difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the "Church of Nice" is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.

It is safe to say that over the past few years, I have gained quite the reputation for speaking my mind. I never envisioned myself, nor wanted, to have this sort of a platform, but God has given it to me, so I have no other choice but to embrace it and preach more hard truths about accepting your lane and staying in it.

As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic. Don't be mistaken, even within the Church, people in polite Catholic circles will try to persuade you to remain silent. There even was an award-winning film called Silence , made by a fellow Catholic, wherein one of the main characters, a Jesuit priest, abandoned the Church, and as an apostate when he died is seen grasping a crucifix, quiet and unknown to anyone but God. As a friend of Benedictine College, His Excellency Bishop Robert Barron, said in his review of the film, it was exactly what the cultural elite want to see in Christianity -- private, hidden away, and harmless.

Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.

But make no mistake, before we even attempt to fix any of the issues plaguing society, we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered. There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore and just blindly proclaim that “That's what Father said.” Because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the same ones who prioritize their hobbies or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory.

It's easy for us laymen and women to think that in order for us to be holy, that we must be active in our parish and try to fix it. Yes, we absolutely should be involved in supporting our parishes, but we cannot be the source for our parish priests to lean on to help with their problems. Just as we look at the relationship between a father and his son, so too should we look at the relationship between a priest and his people. It would not be appropriate for me to always be looking to my son for help when it is my job as his father to lead him.

St. Josemaría Escrivá states that priests are ordained to serve, and should not yield to temptation to imitate laypeople, but to be priests through and through. Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners, and in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar. This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time, because as my teammate's girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt. [ Laughter ]

Saint Josemaría continues that some want to see the priest as just another man. That is not so. They want to find in the priest those virtues proper to every Christian, and indeed every honorable man:  understanding, justice, a life of work — priestly work, in this instance — and good manners. It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or that theological teaching — unless, of course, you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation. And for most of us, that's as married men and women. Still, we have so many great resources at our fingertips that it doesn't take long to find traditional and timeless teachings that haven't been ambiguously reworded for our times. Plus, there are still many good and holy priests, and it's up to us to seek them out.

The chaos of the world is unfortunately reflected in the chaos in our parishes, and sadly, in our cathedrals too. As we saw during the pandemic, too many bishops were not leaders at all. They were motivated by fear, fear of being sued, fear of being removed, fear of being disliked. They showed by their actions, intentional or unintentional, that the sacraments don't actually matter. Because of this, countless people died alone, without access to the sacraments, and it's a tragedy we must never forget. As Catholics, we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people, and ultimately, the Church. We cannot buy into the lie that the things we experienced during COVID were appropriate. Over the centuries, there have been great wars, great famines, and yes, even great diseases, all that came with a level of lethality and danger. But in each of those examples, Church leaders leaned into their vocations and ensured that their people received the sacraments.

Great saints like St. Damien of Molokai, who knew the dangers of his ministry, stayed for 11 years as a spiritual leader to the leper colonies of Hawaii. His heroism is looked at today as something set apart and unique, when ideally it should not be unique at all. For as a father loves his child, so a shepherd should love his spiritual children, too.

That goes even more so for our bishops, these men who are present-day apostles. Our bishops once had adoring crowds of people kissing their rings and taking in their every word, but now relegate themselves to a position of inconsequential existence. Now, when a bishop of a diocese or the bishop's conference as a whole puts out an important document on this matter or that, nobody even takes a moment to read it, let alone follow it.

No. Today, our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the chancery than they are with saying the difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it's time for the annual appeal, whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the Church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians but shepherds, so instead of fitting in the world by going along to get along, they too need to stay in their lane and lead.

I say all of this not from a place of anger, as we get the leaders we deserve. But this does make me reflect on staying in my lane and focusing on my own vocation and how I can be a better father and husband and live in the world but not be of it. Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the Church than me complaining about her leaders.

Because there seems to be so much confusion coming from our leaders, there needs to be concrete examples for people to look to in places like Benedictine, a little Kansas college built high on a bluff above the Missouri River, are showing the world how an ordered, Christ-centered existence is the recipe for success. You need to look no further than the examples all around this campus, where over the past 20 years, enrollment has doubled, construction and revitalization are a constant part of life, and people, the students, the faculty and staff, are thriving. This didn't happen by chance. In a deliberate movement to embrace traditional Catholic values, Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light and a reminder to us all that when you embrace tradition, success — worldly and spiritual — will follow.

I am certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn't be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride. Not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him. Reading that article now shared all over the world, we see that in the complete surrender of self and a turning towards Christ, you will find happiness. Right here in a little town in Kansas, we find many inspiring laypeople using their talents.

President Minnis, Dr. [Andrew] Swafford, and Dr. [Jared] Zimmerer are a few great examples right here on this very campus that will keep the light of Christ burning bright for generations to come. Being locked in with your vocation and staying in your lane is going to be the surest way for you to find true happiness and peace in this life.

It is essential that we focus on our own state in life, whether that be as a layperson, a priest, or religious. Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2024, you are sitting at the edge of the rest of your lives. Each of you has the potential to leave a legacy that transcends yourselves and this era of human existence. In the small ways, by living out your vocation, you will ensure that God's Church continues and the world is enlightened by your example.

For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.

I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.

[ Applause lasting 18 seconds ]

She is a primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.

I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God's will in their life. Isabelle's dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, No.”

As a man who gets a lot of praise and has been given a platform to speak to audiences like this one today, I pray that I always use my voice for God and not for myself. Everything I am saying to you is not from a place of wisdom, but rather a place of experience. I am hopeful that these words will be seen as those from a man, not much older than you, who feels it is imperative that this class, this generation, and this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal.

Heterodox ideas abound even within Catholic circles. But let's be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children — whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive. No matter how you spin it, there is nothing natural about Catholic birth control.

It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because, as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father, and as a man.

To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates, as well.

Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don't necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. I speak from experience as an introvert who now finds myself as an amateur public speaker and an entrepreneur, something I never thought I'd be when I received my industrial engineering degree.

The road ahead is bright. Things are changing. Society is shifting. And people, young and old, are embracing tradition. Not only has it been my vocation that has helped me and those closest to me, but not surprising to many of you, should be my outspoken embrace of the traditional Latin Mass. I've been very vocal in my love and devotion to the TLM and its necessity for our lives. But what I think gets misunderstood is that people who attend the TLM do so out of pride or preference. I can speak to my own experience, but for most people I have come across within these communities this simply is not true. I do not attend the TLM because I think I am better than others, or for the smells and bells, or even for the love of Latin. I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order, and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past, when in my parish, things such as ember days, days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests, are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available.

A lot of people have complaints about the parish or the community, but we should not sacrifice the Mass for community. I prioritize the TLM even if the parish isn't beautiful, the priest isn't great, or the community isn't amazing. I still go to the TLM because I believe the holy sacrifice of the Mass is more important than anything else. I say this knowing full well that when each of you rekindle your knowledge and adherence to many of the church's greatest traditions, you will see how much more colorful and alive your life can and should be.

As you move on from this place and enter into the world, know that you will face many challenges. Sadly, I'm sure many of you know of the countless stories of good and active members of this community who, after graduation and moving away from the Benedictine bubble, have ended up moving in with their boyfriend or girlfriend prior to marriage. Some even leave the Church and abandon God. It is always heartbreaking to hear these stories, and there is a desire to know what happened and what went wrong.

What you must remember is that life is about doing the small things well, setting yourself up for success, and surrounding yourself with people who continually push you to be the best version of you. I say this all the time, that iron sharpens iron. It's a great reminder that those closest to us should be making us better. If you are dating someone who doesn't even share your faith, how do you expect that person to help you become a saint? If your friend group is filled with people who only think about what you're doing next weekend and are not willing to have those difficult conversations, how can they help sharpen you?

As you prepare to enter into the workforce, it is extremely important that you actually think about the places you are moving to. Who is the bishop? What kind of parishes are there? Do they offer the TLM and have priests who embrace their priestly vocation? Cost of living must not be the only arbiter of your choices, for a life without God is not a life at all, and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.

I'm excited for the future, and I pray that something I have said will resonate as you move on to the next chapter of your life.

Never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, for this is the Church that Jesus Christ established, through which we receive sanctifying grace.

I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is Heaven.

I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides the world. I thank God for men like President Minnis, who are doing their part for the Kingdom. Come to find out you can have an authentically Catholic college and a thriving football program. [ Laughter and applause ]

Make no mistake: You are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this. And with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.

Christ is King.

To the Heights.

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Catholic bishops should be more like St. Damien of Molokai, the three-time Super Bowl winner and outspoken Catholic said. ‘I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is heaven.’

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Butker, who offered advice last year at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, is known not only for setting NFL records but also for being outspoken about his Catholic faith.

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President Biden Recognizes Gaza Truce Announcement During Morehouse College Speech

A midst the backdrop of global tension, President Biden expressed support for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Morehouse College commencement event.

The scene unfolded on Sunday as Morehouse College’s Valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher addressed the need for peace and justice, inclusive of the Israel-Gaza conflict. He emphasized the importance of an “immediate and a permanent ceasefire.” President Biden, who was there to present the commencement speech, joined in applauding the statement.

President Biden’s stance on external affairs, particularly the Israel-Gaza conflict, has been under scrutiny, especially from progressive circles within the United States. Despite pressures, President Biden has maintained a supportive stance towards Israel in the conflict with Hamas.

As President Biden prepared to address the graduating class, students and faculty of Morehouse, a prominent historically black and all-male institution, expressed dissent over his presence due to the ongoing conflict. Steve Benjamin, the head of the administration’s Office of Public Engagement at Morehouse, addressed students’ concerns in a meeting as recently reported by NBC.

Even though President Biden received an honorary degree, as decided by a Morehouse faculty vote, a faction within the college expressed their intent to boycott his address.

During his visit to Morehouse, which coincided with recent campus protests across the country, President Biden faced a more subdued reaction compared to other institutions.

Morehouse College’s event comes in the context of President Biden facing challenges related to the Israel-Hamas war, as well as declining support among younger and black voters, which contrast sharply with the voting patterns observed during the 2020 Presidential election.

Amid these challenges, President Biden announced a significant funding initiative for historically Black colleges and universities prior to the commencement address. His appearance at Morehouse was particularly noteworthy as it marked the first time a president delivered the college’s commencement address in over a decade, following former President Barack Obama’s speech in 2013.

The President is scheduled for a subsequent commencement address at the US Military Academy at West Point on May 25.

FAQ Section

What was the main message in Valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher’s speech?

He advocated for an “immediate and a permanent ceasefire” in the Israel-Gaza conflict and emphasized the importance of standing in solidarity with peace and justice.

What has been President Biden’s stance on the Israel-Gaza issue?

President Biden has called for a ceasefire while simultaneously affirming support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, which has caused some unrest among progressives.

Was there any opposition to President Biden speaking at Morehouse College?

Yes, some students and faculty expressed objections due to the Israel-Gaza conflict, and a small group even vowed to not attend the commencement where President Biden spoke.

Did President Biden announce any initiatives during his visit to Morehouse College?

Yes, prior to delivering the commencement speech, President Biden announced $16 billion in funding for historically Black colleges and universities.

President Biden’s participation in Morehouse College’s commencement ceremony not only recognized student activism in global peace efforts but also demonstrated his willingness to engage with younger voters amid dissent and political scrutiny. The event signified a continuation of dialogue around pressing international issues and highlighted the President’s commitment to education and historically Black institutions. Despite the mixed reception, the honorary degree conferred upon him indicates recognition of his ongoing political and social efforts, and his speech served to further articulate a vision for the nation’s future leaders.

The post President Biden Recognizes Gaza Truce Announcement During Morehouse College Speech appeared first on Kevin Hearld .

All the hidden details you missed in King Charles' first official portrait since his coronation

• The first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation was unveiled on Tuesday.
• Painted by British artist Jonathan Yeo, it portrays Charles against a sea of red brushstrokes.
• The portrait has several subtle references to the king's passions and royal lineage. 

The first official portrait of King Charles III was released on Tuesday — just over a year after his coronation on May 6, 2023.

The portrait, painted by British artist Jonathan Yeo, was unveiled by the king at Buckingham Palace . According to a palace release shared with Business Insider, it was first commissioned in 2020 to "celebrate" Charles' 50 years as a member of The Drapers Company, a UK charity that supports causes including education, prisoner rehabilitation, and elder care.

Yeo and Charles met four times between 2021 and 2023 at the kings' residences in Highgrove and Clarence House to complete the painting, which will eventually be hung at Drapers' Hall in London.

Steeped in shades of red, the portrait threw Charles for a bit of a loop when he first saw it in its "half-done state," Yeo told the BBC Tuesday.

"He was initially mildly surprised by the strong colour, but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly," he added.

Soon after its debut, the portrait stirred up debate on social media , dividing royal fans into those who enjoy the piece and those who are less appreciative of the artistic direction.

Yeo's creation hasn't been a resounding success in the art world, either. The Washington Post's art critic called it a "stylistic mess," while an artist and faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design told Today its red brushstrokes remind him of dripping "blood."

However, the work of art got the seal of approval from one of the most important people in Charles' life: Queen Camilla.

According to the BBC, Camilla reacted to seeing it for the first time by saying: "Yes, you've got him."

Like most official royal paintings, Yeo's interpretation of Charles contains several hidden details and subtle nods to the monarch's role as the head of state in the UK, his royal lineage, and his personal passions.

Here's a look at some details that are easy to miss at first glance.

Charles' bright red uniform is from the Welsh Guards, a regiment of the British army.

Charles is depicted holding a sword and wearing the ruby-red signature uniform of the Welsh Guards, a regiment of the British army that he was named Regimental Colonel of in 1975.

The king has worn the uniform during the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony, which honors the monarch's birthday at the Horse Guards Parade in London.

The use of red in the uniform and the rest of the painting is a nod to Charles' "royal heritage," as the color often appears in many historical royal paintings, according to Yeo's website , where he offered further insights into his artistic choices.

His uniform fades into the background of the red-painted canvas on purpose.

Yeo also explained on his website that Charles' red uniform purposefully blends into the swirls of red paint that cover most of the canvas.

He chose to fade the uniform out and keep Charles' face more pronounced to allow viewers to feel a sense of connection with the king as a person rather than have their attention diverted by his regalia.

"As a portrait artist, you get this unique opportunity to spend time with and get to know a subject, so I wanted to minimise the visual distractions and allow people to connect with the human being underneath," Yeo said.

The butterfly next to Charles' shoulder is thought to have been named after another British ruler.

In the portrait, a small butterfly flutters above Charles' right shoulder.

Yeo said on this website that the butterfly is symbolic for several reasons.

For one, it is a monarch butterfly, identifiable for its orange, black, and white colors.

As Yeo explained on his website, it's commonly believed that the monarch butterfly got its name from King William III, who was born in the Netherlands and known as the Prince of Orange until he ascended the throne in England.

Speaking to the BBC, the artist also revealed that it was Charles who suggested adding the butterfly. Yeo apparently asked the king: "When schoolchildren are looking at this in 200 years and they're looking at the who's who of the monarchs, what clues can you give them?"

According to Yeo, Charles's response was: "What about a butterfly landing on my shoulder?"

The butterfly is also a subtle nod to Charles' longtime passion for environmental causes.

Charles has championed sustainability and environmental protections for decades, long before he was imploring governments and businesses to take more action to combat the climate crisis at events like the G-7 summit and COP26 .

In 1970, for example, he gave a highly progressive speech for the time about the consequences of pollution on the environment, which he said in an interview with ITV News in 2020 made many people think he was "dotty."

The butterfly pays tribute to Charles' passion for the environment, Yeo said on his website.

"Primarily a symbol of the beauty and precariousness of nature, it highlights the environmental causes the King has championed most of his life and certainly long before they became a mainstream conversation," Yeo wrote.

The butterfly is also symbolic of Charles' evolution from prince to king.

Just as a caterpillar builds a cocoon and transforms into a butterfly, Charles went through a transitional period of his own while Yeo was working on this painting.

Charles was known as the Prince of Wales when Yeo started on the portrait. By the time it was complete, he was king.

"In the context of art history, a butterfly is often the symbol of metamorphosis and rebirth, and thus also parallels the King's transition from prince to monarch during the period the portrait was created," Yeo wrote on his website.

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Important adjustments for our commencement celebrations: May 13, 2024

To the Case Western Reserve University community,

Commencement marks the culmination of years of hard work and dedication in classrooms, labs, clinicals, internships, extracurriculars and so much more. Though this always is one of our favorite events of any year, we are especially looking forward to this year’s festivities, as many members of the undergraduate Class of 2024 had their high school graduation ceremonies canceled at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This is an exceptional time for our soon-to-be alumni and their families, and we are eager to celebrate alongside them. While we are aware some individuals may have plans to disrupt these events, we are committed to ensuring this day remains centered on our outstanding graduates and their achievements.

To that end, we want to share general guidelines and expectations for ensuring commencement and other end-of-semester events are safe, welcoming and civil environments for all.

First and foremost: As an institution of higher education, Case Western Reserve is committed to the critical importance of public discourse and freedom of expression. However, our freedom of expression policy also notes that the university “may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of the university.”

As noted Friday, all gatherings and events related to freedom of expression, regardless of perspective or subject, taking place between now and May 20 on university property will require reservations that are approved in writing by the interim vice president for student affairs (via [email protected] ) to ensure safety and adherence to policy. Participation in an unapproved activity on Case Western Reserve property—including protest during commencement—will result in referral to the relevant conduct process, even for those scheduled to graduate.

Our top priority is always the safety of our community, and actions or language—including decorations on mortar boards—that make others feel threatened or intimidated will not be tolerated.   In addition, we are updating our security measures for Wednesday’s convocation events as well as all diploma ceremonies including:

• Metal detectors, bag screenings and visual inspection of clothing capable of concealing prohibited items upon entry to convocation and all diploma ceremonies (please note: graduates will need to remove mortar boards to proceed through metal detectors);
• A range of   prohibite d items —including signage, banners and flags, and bags larger than 5”x8”x1”;
• Ticketing for convocation and all diploma ceremonies held in Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center and the Maltz Center for Performing Arts; and
• ID checks (CWRU ID or other photo identification, e.g., driver’s license) for all attendees at convocation events and for graduating students at all diploma ceremonies.

The university also has implemented an opt-in emergency messaging system for guests; if an incident occurs about which the university needs to send an alert, guests who opt in (by texting “CWRUGrad2024” to 67283) will receive the same emergency message as our students, faculty and staff.

University staff and faculty members also have been trained on how to minimize disruptions, if needed, and quickly restore the event’s focus to our graduates’ accomplishments.

We are committed to maintaining an environment that ensures our Class of 2024 can be honored with a celebration befitting their incredible achievements. We hope you’ll join us in recognizing them .

Sincerely, Eric W. Kaler President

Joy K. Ward Provost and Executive Vice President

Speech on Importance Of Technology

Imagine living in a world without technology. Hard to picture, isn’t it? Technology touches every part of your life, making it easier, faster, and more enjoyable.

Its importance cannot be overstated. From smartphones to space rovers, it shapes your today and builds your tomorrow. With technology, the impossible becomes possible.

1-minute Speech on Importance Of Technology

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Technology is like the magic wand of our times. It’s not just about shiny new phones or fast cars. It is a tool that is making our lives easier, better, and a lot more exciting.

Think about a day in your life. You wake up to the sound of an alarm, that’s technology. You step into a warm shower, thank technology for that. You call a friend living miles away, it’s all because of technology. It’s everywhere, touching every part of our lives.

Now, let’s talk about learning and knowledge. Thanks to technology, we can learn about anything, from anywhere, at any time. Imagine you are curious about the stars in the sky. With technology, you can explore the universe sitting right in your home. It is making education fun, engaging, and limitless.

What about health? Technology is helping doctors cure diseases that were once thought impossible to treat. It’s giving hope to the ill and making the world a healthier place.

And let’s not forget how technology is bringing us closer. Earlier, if a loved one lived far away, we could only write letters and wait for a reply. Now, with a single click, we can see and talk to them as if they are right in front of us. That’s the power of technology.

Sure, like everything, technology has its challenges. It’s up to us to use it wisely, for the good of all. Remember, technology is not just a tool, it’s a gift. It’s our guide to a brighter and better future.

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• Essay on Importance Of Technology

2-minute Speech on Importance Of Technology

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

Let’s talk about technology today. Why is technology so important? It’s like asking why we need air to breathe. Technology is everywhere around us and it affects our lives in many ways.

Imagine waking up in the morning. What’s the first thing you do? Many of us check our phones. Our day starts with technology and ends with it. It’s not just about phones and computers. Even simple things like a toaster, a washing machine, or a lightbulb – all are examples of technology.

Now think about a world without technology. No phones, no computers, no cars, no electricity. We would have to walk miles to reach school or work. We couldn’t talk to our friends who live far away. We wouldn’t be able to learn new things from the internet. Life would be very hard, wouldn’t it?

This is why we need technology. It makes our lives easier. It saves us time. It helps us do things we couldn’t do before. It connects us with people all over the world. It helps us learn new things. It makes our world a smaller and better place.

But technology is not just about making life easier. It’s also about solving big problems. Think about doctors. They use technology to cure diseases, to heal the sick. Farmers use technology to grow more food. Scientists use technology to understand the world around us.

And what about the future? Technology will play an even bigger role. It will help us fight climate change. It will help us explore space. It will help us live longer and healthier lives. The possibilities are endless.

But it’s not enough just to use technology. We must also understand it. We must learn how to use it wisely. We must make sure it doesn’t harm us or our planet.

So, let’s embrace technology. Let’s learn about it. Let’s use it to make our lives better and to make the world a better place. Because without technology, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And with technology, who knows where we can go tomorrow?

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India’s LGBTQIA+ community notches legal wins but still faces societal hurdles to acceptance, equal rights

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While there has been some recent progress for India’s LGBTQIA+ community, there is still a long way to go to overcome social stigma and prejudice, and to ensure that all people in the country feel their rights are protected, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

UNAIDS , the main advocate for coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the UN Development Progarmme ( UNDP ) offices in India have been important partners in this effort. 

On this International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), celebrated annually on 17 May, we reflect on the journey of some members of this community in India and shed light on the challenges they are still faced with.

‘All hell broke loose’

Noyonika* and Ishita*, residents of a small town in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, are a lesbian couple working with an organization advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights.

But despite her advocacy role in the community, Noyonika has been unable to muster the courage to tell her own family that she is gay. “Very few people know this,” she says. “My family is very conservative, and it would be unthinkable for [them] to understand that I am gay.”

Noyonika’s partner, Ishita, is Agender (not identifying with any gender, or having a lack of gender). She says that she realized in childhood that she was different from other girls and was attracted to girls rather than boys. But her family is also very conservative, and she has not told her father about her reality.

Twenty-three-year-old Minal* and 27-year-old Sangeeta* have a similar story. The couple are residents of a small village in the northwestern state of Punjab. They now live in a big city and work for a well-regarded company.

Sangeeta said that although her own parents eventually came to terms with the relationship, Minal’s family was extremely opposed to the point of harassing the couple. “All hell broke loose,” said Minal.

“In 2019, we got permission to live together through a court order,” Sangeeta explained, but after this Minal’s family started threatening her over the phone.

“They used to say that they would kill me and put my family in jail. Even my family members were scared of these threats. After that [Minal’s family] kept stalking and harassing us for two to three years,” she said.

Today, Sangeeta and Minal are still struggling to have their relationship legally recognized.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Struggles for acceptance

Heart-rending stories like these can be found across India, where societal prejudices and harassment continue to plague lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities.

Sadhna Mishra, a transgender activist from Odisha, runs a community organization called Sakha. As a child, she faced oppression because she was seen as not conforming to societal gender norms. In 2015, she underwent gender confirming surgery and her journey towards her authentic self began.

Recalling the painful days of her childhood, she said, “Because of my femininity, I became a victim of rape again and again. Whenever I used to cry, my mother would ask why, and I would not be able to say anything. I used to ask why people called me Chhakka and Kinnar [transgender or intersex]. My mother would smile and say that’s because you are different and unique.”

It is because of her mother’s faith in her that Sadhna is now active in fighting for the rights of other transgender persons.

Still, she remembers well the hurdles she has faced, like the early days of trying to get launch her organization and the difficulties she had even finding a place for Sakha’s office. People were reluctant to rent space to a transgender person, so Sadhna was forced to work in public places and parks.

Social prejudices

A lack of understanding and intolerance towards the LGBTQIA+ community are similar, whether in larger cities or in rural areas.

Noyonika says that her organization sees many instances where a man is married to a woman because of societal pressure, without understanding his gender identity. “In villages and towns, you will find many married couples who have children and are forced to live a fake life.”

As for the rural areas of Assam where her organization works, Ishita gave the example of a cultural festival Bhavna being celebrated in Naamghars , or places of worship, where dramas based on mythological stories are presented. 

The female characters in these dramas are played mostly by men with feminine characteristics. During festivals they are widely praised, and their feminine characteristics are applauded, but out of the spotlight, they can become victims of harassment.

“They are intimidated, they are sexually exploited, they are molested,” Ishita explained.

A slow path to progress

In recent years, there have been positive legal and policy decisions acknowledging the LGBTQIA+ community in India. This includes the 2014 NALSA (National Legal Service Authority) decision, in which the court upheld everyone's right to identify their own gender and legally recognized hijras and kinnar (transgender persons) as a ‘third gender’. 

In 2018, the application of portions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to criminalize private consensual sex between men was ruled unconstitutional by India’s Supreme Court. Further, in 2021, a landmark judgment by the Madras High Court directed the state to provide comprehensive welfare services to the LGBTQIA+ communities.

United Nations advocacy

Communication is an important way to foster dialogue and help create a more tolerant and inclusive society, and gradually, perhaps even change mindsets.

To this end, UN Women , in collaboration with India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development, has recently contributed to the development of a gender-inclusive communication guide.

Meanwhile, the UNAIDS and UNDP offices in India are working to assist the LGBTQIA+ community by running awareness and empowerment campaigns, as well as provide those communities with better health and social protection services.

“UNAIDS supports LGBTQ+ people’s leadership in the HIV response and in advocacy for human rights, and is working to tackle discrimination, and to help build inclusive societies where everyone is protected and respected,” said David Bridger, UNAIDS Country Director for India.

He added: “The HIV response has clearly taught all of us that in order to protect everyone’s health, we have to protect everyone’s rights.”

In line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Organization’s broad commitment to ‘leave no one behind’, UNDP, is working with governments and partners to strengthen laws, policies and programmes that address inequalities and seek to ensure respect for the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people. 

Through the “Being LGBTI in the Asia and the Pacific” programme, UNDP has also implemented relevant regional initiatives.

Opportunities and challenges

UNDP India’s National Programme Manager (Health Systems Strengthening Unit), Dr. Chiranjeev Bhattacharjya said, “At UNDP India, we have been working very closely with the LGBTQI community to advance their rights.” 

Indeed, he continued, there are currently multiple opportunities to support the community due to progressive legal landmarks like the NALSA judgement, decriminalization of same sex relationships (377 IPC) and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 which has raised awareness regarding their development. 

“However, there are implementation challenges which will need multi-stakeholder collaboration and we will continue to work with the community to address them so that we leave no one behind,” he stated.

Even as the Indian legal landscape has inched towards broader inclusion with the repeal of Section 377, the country’s LGBTQIA+ communities are still awaiting recognition – and justice – when dealing with many areas of their everyday lives and interactions, for example: who can be designated 'next of kin' if one partner is hospitalized; can a partner be added to a life insurance policy; or whether legal recognition could be given to gay marriage.