On September 5, 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) gave a presidential campaign speech in Cadillac Square in Detroit, Michigan.  It was a brief speech delivered before 100,000 people. I was there. That's me about mid-way back in the middle with the curly blond hair. I was 11 years old and in junior high school. Here are some excerpts from the speech.

“…I take my case to you because I am confident that the American people do not want to continue in this country poverty and discrimination and disease and slums. They want to move ahead again, and we are going to do it beginning January 1961.  I take my case to the American people because I am confident that the American people will want to bring an end to racial discrimination everywhere, in the schools, in the homes, in the churches, in the lunch counters. I want every American free to stand up for his rights, even if sometimes he has to sit down for them. And finally I am here because we share a common, deep-seated belief in the workings of free collective bargaining and in the growth of free, responsible unions…”

 “…The facts of the matter are that the Republican Party for 40 years has opposed all kinds of progressive social legislation. They did it in the special session in the last 4 weeks, and if they are successful they will oppose legislation for the next 4 years. That is not what we want for this country. We want America to move again.  Franklin Roosevelt said it when he accepted the second presidential nomination before 100,000 people in Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and in that speech he said

 ‘Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that Divine Justice weighs the sins of the coldblooded and the sins of the warmhearted in a different scale. Better the occasional faults of a government living in the spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. ‘

For the last 8 years in this country we have had a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. Where Franklin Roosevelt set before our country its unfinished tasks, the unfinished agenda for America, this administration has set ceilings, has set goals…” 

“…This is a great country. When the American Revolution came, Tom Paine wrote, "The cause of America is the cause of all mankind." Now, in 1960, in the great world revolution, the cause of all mankind is the cause of America. If we succeed in this country, if we make this a great country to live in, if we reflect our vitality and energy and strength around the world, then the cause of freedom is strengthened. But if we fail, all fail. If we stand still, freedom stands still…”

On September 5, 2011 President Obama gave a Labor Day speech in Detroit. I was there in spirit. I was 61 years old and soon-to-be retired (sort of). Here are some excerpts from the speech.

 “…I also want to talk about the work you’ve been doing for decades: Work to make sure that folks get an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. Work to make sure that families get a fair shake. The work you've done that helped build the greatest middle class the world has ever known. I’m talking about the work that got us a 40-hour workweek and weekends, and paid leave and pensions, and the minimum wage and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare --- the cornerstones of middle-class security. That's because of your work…”

 “…And that’s something that’s worth keeping in mind today. We’ve come through a difficult decade in which those values were all too often given short shrift. We’ve gone through a decade where wealth was valued over work, and greed was valued over responsibility. And the decks were too often stacked against ordinary folks in favor of the special interests. And everywhere I went while I was running for this office, I met folks who felt their economic security slipping away, men and women who were fighting harder and harder just to stay afloat. And that was even before the economic crisis hit, and that just made things even harder…”

 “…So that’s what we’re fighting for, Michigan. We’re fighting for good jobs with good wages. We’re fighting for health care when you get sick. We’re fighting for a secure retirement even if you’re not rich. We’re fighting for the chance to give our kids a better life than we had. That’s what we’re doing to restore middle-class security and rebuild this economy the American way -- based on balance and fairness and the same set of rules for everybody from Wall Street to Main Street. An economy where hard work pays off and gaming the system doesn’t pay off, and everybody has got a shot at the American Dream. That’s what we’re fighting for…On Thursday, we’re going to lay out a new way forward on jobs to grow the economy and put more Americans back to work right now. I don’t want to give everything away right here, because I want you all to tune in on Thursday but I'll give you just a little bit.

We’ve got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding. We’ve got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building. We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. There is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. Labor is on board. Business is on board. We just need Congress to get on board. Let’s put America back to work…”

I received my first and only union card in 1965 (grocery clerk).  That was the same year I filed my first income tax form and contributed to our Social Security system. My reported income that year was  $365.00. I’ve been contributing ever since and glad to do it. 

The struggle continues.  The Republican right-wing madness continues – always has. Turns out Harry Truman gave a similar Labor Day speech too in Detroit in 1947. I wasn't even a thought.We cannot abandon the good fight. It’s that simple. And that complex. We shall overcome as long as we stand together.