Gray: Tough minds, tender hearts and decisive judgment needed

Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray addresses the crowd during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Commemoration at UNMC on Monday. (Andrew E. Nelson, UNMC public relations)

In the face of crises in health care and economics and continued societal injustice, Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray said Monday that Americans need to adopt three tenants Martin Luther King Jr. said are essential for people to truly love each other.

These qualities — which Dr. King discussed in sermons contained in a book titled “Strength To Love” — are tough minds, tender hearts and decisive judgment.

“The nation, state and city face major issues,” said Gray, as he delivered the medical center’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorative address. “It cannot be business as usual.”

In his speech that also was titled, “Strength to Love,” Gray said people show tough minds when they seek truth on their own rather than simply accepting what they are told by others.

View the presentation Watch a video of Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray’s talk at Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration in the Sorrell Center.

Tender hearts, Gray said, recognize the qualities of humanity in each person.

Decisive judgment is the ability to make tough decisions on crucial issues in a firm manner that affirms and supports that humanity, he said.

President Barack Obama displayed these traits as he led recent efforts to reform health care, which included the U.S. Senate’s passage of a bill that will help provide coverage for the 47 million Americans who currently lack health insurance.

Obama’s leadership helped the country move toward providing for those who have the least, Gray said.

“That’s what we need to be about,” he said.

City leaders will need to show similar qualities as they face a major budget crunch, crumbling streets and shortages within key city agencies.

Gray speaks with Andrew Jameton, Ph.D., right, and another audience member after the city councilman delivered the his Martin Luther King Jr. Day address at UNMC. (Andrew E. Nelson, UNMC public Relations)

Tough decisions will need to be made to improve conditions in a city where police officers cruise the streets in vehicles with nearly 200,000 miles on them and there are not resources to tend to dying trees that threaten to fall on people and property in public places.

But the good news, Gray said, is that Omahans have what it takes to embody the tough minds, tender hearts and decisive judgment of which Dr. King spoke.

“If we let people know what the circumstances are, this is a community that will rise up and do what needs to be done,” he said.