With a 16.7% unemployment figure looming over the black population, President Obama, the nation’s first black president, has heard much criticism from black leaders in Congress and leaders in black communities across the country. On Saturday, President Obama was invited to speak at the Congressional Black Caucus annual dinner and urged African-Americans to stand with him and “press on.”
To encourage his audience, President Obama quoted from Martin Luther King Jr., saying;
“Before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead. We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance. But with patient and firm determination we will press on.”
The President told the Caucus that he’s heard and listened to their criticisms, but argued that he needs their help to get his $447 billion jobs bill passed. He told the audience that the jobs bill will “put our people back to work doing the work America needs done. Let’s pass this jobs bill.”
With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs. I’m going to press on for equality. I’m going to press on for the sake of our children. I’m going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on.
