"It's such an incredible honor to be here in my hometown to celebrate this historic day.

"I was just seven years old when Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

"While I listened to Dr. King's speech with my parents and my brothers and sisters, Monnie Callan, a retired social worker and a member of SEIU Local 1199 in New York, was marching shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most important civil rights leaders of our lifetime.

"Monnie understood the power of uniting together to create a better future long before she joined our union. And she her husband traveled hundreds of miles with two infants to hear Dr. King's dream for America.

"To fully realize Dr. King's dream, we must restore fairness to our economy.

"America's workers are in crisis. A staggering 26 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. 1 out of every 8 Americans is in foreclosure or behind on their mortgage. We're retiring into poverty. We're cutting teachers, firefighters, and healthcare workers to save our cities from bankruptcy. And we're giving up hope that our children will have a better future.

"Nowhere is that more striking than here in Detroit. Just ask Mamie Hall. Mamie has been a Nursing Assistant at Cranbrook Geriatric Village Nursing Home and a member of SEIU Healthcare Michigan for almost 17 years. In that time, she's watched her once-vibrant Eastside Detroit neighborhood crumble. Neighbors have lost their jobs and homes sit boarded up by foreclosure. Families here in Detroit are barely getting by. To Mamie, the problem is simple: Folks just aren't getting the credit they used to for their hard work.

"It wasn't always like this.

"I grew up in a time when workers were able to form strong unions--like the United Auto Workers--to win a voice on the job and build a strong middle class.

"Being in a union was something that was respected. It meant that your family was secure. Your children were going to have a better life. It meant public services were well-funded. And the people who did the work that made our communities function were respected.

"Forty-seven years later, Dr. King's dream that his "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" still asks a question that each of us must answer:

"Have we moved beyond the things that divide us and are we ready to stand as one?

"As a child, my family moved to Arizona for a short while. I tried to play with the girls who lived on the Native American reservation that bordered our neighborhood. When I heard Dr. King's words, I finally understood why so many of our neighbors discouraged me from crossing the fence into the reservation. It made me sad then, and today it makes me mad.

"Today, I see how the color of our skin continues to undermine the dream that someday all of God's children will be treated as gifts to our collective humanity.

"But we cannot fix our economy until we fix our broken immigration system.

"Anti-immigrant sentiment is tearing at the fabric of this country, betraying our heritage as a nation of immigrants and giving rise to racial profiling. America was built on the dreams of people from across the world coming to America, seeking a better life. Today, our broken system allows unscrupulous corporations to exploit undocumented workers and drive down wages and standards for all of us.

"It's time to restore fairness, justice and opportunity back to our economy for all workers.

"At the March on Washington, Monnie Callan remembers signs that read: "I'm tired of waiting."

"Monnie and the rest of us are still tired waiting.

"Dr. King knew better than anyone that we can't just wait for others to deliver the change we seek. Ordinary people acting in bold ways is the best way to transform the world.

"So when I think of the path forward, I believe that a strong union movement must unite with a strong progressive movement.

"I believe that we must link arms--just as many of you did in Washington on that August afternoon in 1963--to to win justice for all Americans and make Dr. King's dream a true reality."