Open Letter to Senate Appointee Burris from Reverend C.T. Vivian

I received a letter from a good friend of mine , Dr. C.T. Vivian of Atlanta Georgia. In this letter Reverend Cordy T. Vivian articulated a message of hope directed to the embattled senatorial appointee.I asked Reverend Vivian a facebook friend of mine, and a long time civil rights advocate to submit this letter , on my blog for your reading pleasure. I am honored that he has submitted this to my blog , but most of all I am honored and humbled to call this Civil Rights veteran legend a friend. Thank you , Reverend Vivian for all that you have done and all that you are doing now .

Dear Senator Burris,

I remember working with you to keep Provident Hospital open on behalf of all us on the South Side (Chicago, IL). You are 71 and have more experience in ways that the U.S. Senate knows not.

You paid your dues when others, all but a very few, didn't even know what dues were. You paid your dues when our grandparents told our parents, and our parents told us "you have to know twice as much, to get half as far." Your strategy, struggles and victory will be the next great political struggle after Obama. Remember, your every victory has been ours, and will forever be.

Your walking into the United States Senate has been a long time coming. I await you taking your seat in the U.S. Congress. We will be thankful to God and you. The key to your every victory was your inner strength – which was greater than their outer political power. We have, and still applaud, every victory you made possible. They were for all of us. You were accomplished in a time when such seemed almost impossible. You have been worthy, and you remain so.

You will be the only one in the Senate to properly speak and debate our cause, and have what it takes. You represent a strong stream of American life, thought and history. There are those who will say “we don't need that any more, that period is over now.” This is not so, especially when the present Republican President would not speak to the N.A.A.C.P. for fear of having to answer direct questions from a group prepared by intellect to do so.

During this recent election, Senator McCain brought forth a racist governor from Alaska as his running mate. He did so without examining her attitudes, and obviously did not feel he needed to do so. In this election, neither party talked of her attitude or asked African-American leaders in Alaska about her. This was neglectful, and we could have paid a heavy fine for this. For these reasons and many more, we need your representation in the U.S. Senate.