In Washington DC, Responsible for Equality And Liberty’s (R.E.A.L.) public awareness event on our shared universal human rights of equality and liberty drew support from the public at the Lincoln Memorial, even on an overcast and rainy afternoon on March 28.

Per R.E.A.L.’ s announcement, the public awareness event was R.E.A.L.’s annual recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination on April 4, and remembering how Dr. King gave his life for his country.  (As April 4 is Easter Day this year, R.E.A.L. held the event this year on March 28.) R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm played an audio recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech before he died, and asked the public that while Dr. King stated on these same Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool steps “I have a dream,” it is our obligation to say “I have a responsibility” to our fellow Americans and fellow human beings to defend our universal human rights of equality and liberty. 

Jeffrey Imm urged people of all beliefs and all faiths to stop on April 4 and take a moment of reflective silence or prayer in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4.

R.E.A.L. also intermixed civil rights music along with speaking on major issues of the day in terms of human rights issues, including:

— Racial supremacism and the need for racial harmony and respect. R.E.A.L. addressed the growing problem of racial supremacism in America, and R.E.A.L.’s efforts in defying white supremacist efforts to spread hate in the Washington DC area.  Jeffrey Imm recalled last year’s event at the Lincoln Memorial on April 4, 2009 warning of the rise of such hate groups, and the subsequent white supremacist terrorist attack on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial on June 20, 2009.  R.E.A.L. also addressed its efforts in defying the efforts of “white nationalist hate groups” such as the American Renaissance, Stormfront, and Occidental Dissent in seeking to expand their recruitment in the Washington DC area.

— Misogyny and the need for gender equality and respect. R.E.A.L. addressed the need for Constitutional equality for all American women, stating “the words you see engraved in the wall of the Lincoln Memorial — that all men are created equal — we need to also recognize Constitutional equality for all American women to be equal as well.  That too should be a declaration, never a question.”  R.E.A.L. addressed the misogyny and violence against American women, including “honor killings” and hate against Muslim women in America (such as the November 2009 case of Noor Almaleki in Arizona), as well as such “honor killings,” stonings, oppression, and hate against Muslim and non-Muslim women around the world.   R.E.A.L. addressed the horrific attacks on other women around the world, from the abuse of Chinese women in Communist China, to the genocide of women in Sudan’s Darfur, and the rape and murder of women in the Congo.  (Mohamed Yahya later separately addressed the issues of Sudan and Darfur.  This will be addressed in a separate posting.)

— Denial of religious freedom, the challenge of totalitarianism and religious extremism, and the need for religious freedom and pluralism. R.E.A.L. addressed the many whose religious freedom continues to be denied around the world today, such as in Communist China, where Christians and Muslims (and people with other belief structures such as the Falun Gong) are arrested and their houses of worship destroyed by the totalitarian Communist government, simply for seeking freedom of conscience.  R.E.A.L discussed those who would deny freedom of religion based on a religious extremist view that is intolerant of religious pluralism and freedom of conscience, and stood on behalf of those converts to Christianity from Islam who were being oppressed as “apostates.”  R.E.A.L. praised the efforts of the group “Set My People Free to Worship Me” who were planning global events on Easter eve, April 3, calling for religious freedom for such Christian converts.  R.E.A.L. addressed the challenges of people in minority religions in nations such as Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, where religious freedom, pluralism, and tolerance rejected the freedom of religion for Christians, Hindus, and other sects of Islam. R.E.A.L. condemned the disease of violence against people of minority religions around the world, including the recent massacres in Nigeria of over 500 Christians.  R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm called for support of religious freedom and freedom of conscience as part of our universal human rights around the world.  R.E.A.L. also reminded Americans that America has the responsibility to set an example for defending freedom of religion in our nation, and that all religions must condemn, denounce, and seek the end of those who would vandalize and attack houses of worship of any faith in America, as we so often see today, in attacks on churches, synagogues, and mosques.

R.E.A.L. message at the Lincoln Memorial public awareness event was:
— “Human Rights are Your Right”
— “Human Rights are Your Responsibility”
— “Be Responsible”
— “Be Responsible for Equality And Liberty”

At the conclusion of the event, R.E.A.L. and other members of the public said a public prayer for peace, justice, and human rights on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool steps, remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and calling for all Americans and all human beings, to “Choose Love, Not Hate.  Love Wins.”

Photos from March 28 event: