June 20th Fundraiser

June 20th Fundraiser

How is everyone doing tonight?

The most important words I can say to Salima, to Johnny and Mayor D'Alessandro, and to each and every one of you, and to William, and to Jack, and to Grace, and to Tara, and to Katie O'Malley, the most dynamic first lady, I think, Baltimore has ever had, the most important words I can say to you on this night of such overwhelming support for a better and stronger Maryland are Thank You. Thank you all very, very much.

I have a few thoughts I want to share with you, and I'd ask you to bear with me, if you would. Six years ago, we came together to tackle, head-on, the difficult, but critically important work, of turning our city, our great American city of Baltimore around. We didn't volunteer this because it was easy; we volunteered to do this because it was important, and it needed to be done. And you and I, and I see so many faces of friends who have fought with me many a noble and courageous battle, we put aside our fears, we embraced the possibilities, instead, of what our city could become if only we chose to make progress, and not excuses.

And thanks to your hard work, and the hard work of our police officers, firefighters and neighbors, Baltimore's comeback is a reality. It is a reality that is increasingly gaining attention all across the country and in publications like Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

My friends, together we have chosen to shed that old culture of failure and excuses, and instead, we chose to believe in the strength of our neighbors. With openness, with transparency, with the courage to set our sights high, the courage to declare goals, to measure our performance, we?ve made great progress together.

What do we mean when we say we've made great progress? Well you know and I know that our city was once known for having the highest rate of violent crime, and the highest drug addiction of any big city in America. And now we are becoming known for the rapid and nation-leading progress that we are making. Not by running away from our problems, but from confronting them, head-on. By bringing people together, to confront our shared responsibilities and to embrace our shared opportunities.

We've achieved the largest reduction of violent crime over these five years of any of the top 25 cities. With better funded and more effective drug treatment, we have been able to lead the nation in attacking unchecked drug addiction that for generations had robbed children of their parents.

And get this - what is progress? How do we define progress? Six years ago, not a single one of our grades scored majority proficient in reading or math. Today for the first time in thirty years, our first graders have scored majority proficient; our second graders have scored majority proficient; our third graders have scored majority proficient, and this year our fourth graders have scored majority proficient.

People who used to look at us because of our problems now come to see the things that we are doing right. Cities across the country, cities across the world, actually come to see what we are doing with Citistat. We have seven billion dollars of new investment that has returned to a city that you and I together chose to make a safer, healthier, cleaner and better place for Baltimore's children. To all of you, who've had the unwavering courage to believe in a better tomorrow for Baltimore's Children, I say thank you.

Our progress was not inevitable and don't let anyone ever tell you it was. Our progress was not inevitable. It was something we chose, and we chose to work together to achieve it. Together we are making progress, and no amount of words can ever repay you for what you've done for the next generation.

But you know what? As this modern day Battle of Baltimore continues, there is brought to us a new battle. It is a battle in whose balance hangs the progress of Maryland, a potential powerhouse of a state. A state whose future, I submit to you, my friends, is threatened by the icy, minimalist, indifference that would say to a free, to a diverse, to a creative and courageous people, this far can you go and no further.

We cannot run from this struggle. We must run to it. Can we allow the opportunity of higher education or continuing education to be something in our state that is reserved only as a privilege for the very wealthy? Can we allow the health of the Chesapeake Bay to go the way of the dinosaur?

We have the power to make all our neighborhoods safer, we really do, we are one of the most powerful states in the Union. We have the power to make every neighborhood safe from foreign and domestic threats, and we have the ability to better educate our children in decent classrooms so that Maryland can create a future where there are more jobs and better opportunities, not less. The progress, my friends, is not inevitable, we have to choose it. We have to choose it.

There is a truth that emanates from Baltimore. It is a truth I have seen the eyes of people who are healing themselves from addiction. It is a truth that I have seen in police officers, black and white, who go out every night to risk their lives, to put them on the line for us. It is a truth that I have seen in the eyes of our children.

There is a truth that emanates from our progress in Baltimore. It is a truth that from time to time has been our responsibility to live and proclaim to our fellow citizens. And it is a truth that our state needs and wants to follow once again.

What is that truth? It is a powerful truth. It is a truth that in fact, and in deed, we need each other. It is the truth that our diversity as a people is a gift from God, and we are stronger together than we can ever be as individuals. It is the truth that is more that unites us than divides us, and one of those things is hope: hope for a better future for our children, hope for a healthier environment, hope for a state that creates more jobs and better opportunities for all.

There is no issue. No issue of crime, no issue of schools, no issue of transportation or the environment that we cannot overcome as a people if we are willing to work together for a better future.

You know and I know that Maryland's children, and Maryland's neighborhoods deserve better, and that Maryland is capable of so much more. And it is our responsibility, with respect for one another, with tolerance, with compassion, with strength, with perseverance and tireless effort to make Maryland a leader in the progress of our nation, once again..

God Bless Baltimore, God Bless Maryland, God Bless America, and God bless each and every one of you.

http://www.martinomalley.com/speeches/173/june-20th-fundraiser