Opportunity International Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, […] I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcast children.
This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation’s self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, […] for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.
On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Speech at Riverside Church (extracts), 1967.
We at Opportunity International are committed to restructuring the edifice. We are committed to building a financial infrastructure that includes everyone, and specifically caters to the needs of the most outcast: the poorest, the women, the isolated, the minorities, the forgotten. Upon this financial infrastructure, stronger communities will have the resources to build inclusive and permanent health, education, sanitation and business solutions.
Thank you for being partners with us in this mission.