The Multiracial Movement and our nation are at a crossroads. One path has the potential of resolving age-old wounds, unifying communities of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, as well as setting a precedence for the positive showcasing of race relations both at home and abroad.

The other path will continue to exacerbate already strained ties between segments of the multiracial community and some dissident voices within the traditional civil rights minority leadership. This is a road whose sign posts signal "Blame" "Resentment" and the perpetuation of "Racial Hierarchy" where what prevails is the myth that: "white is right, brown sticks around, and black gets back." These impressions still shamefully linger in the minds of some Americans and act as silent deadly weights pulling away at the fabric of our nation's consciousness-- a consciousness that has almost become numb in 1996 to the real meaning of "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..." for all communities regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliations or personal lifestyles.

As a Multiracial American who envisions my community and country as a place where each of us can acknowledge celebrate and respect one another's diversity, today's Multiracial Solidarity March is our future--a future made possible with racial harmony and prosperity as our stand for the present.

We are--as an untapped minority--not among those who are counted by local, regional, or federal-level agencies that gather racial/ethnic data for medical research purposes and other health-related matters. We are virtually invisible to the medical community statistically and unless we take this issue to our legislators, the mail box, the ballot box, the Census Bureau, the State Capitol and to all the healthcare providers in the country--we will remain at risk and the last to receive accurate adequate or equitable medical treatment.

Part of the process of enriching people's lives that needs to occur in every community across America involves a commit- ment to giving blood for bone marrow screening. Minorities in general, and multiracial individuals in particular, are at a marked disadvantage in our ability to draw from a viable pool of donors that provides more complex racial matching.

In the spirit of making a difference--now today--at the March--I urge each and every one of you to participate in the blood screening/bone marrow donor drive sponsored by Project Race in conjunction with the National Institute of Health, and make a personal contribution to saving lives. We are doing this today in loving memory of Karen Racz one of our multiracial children who died of leukemia after an unsuccessful donor search.

This drive is being facilitated by members of AMEA's Washington D.C. affiliate, the Interracial Family Circle who are providing a hospitality suite for the Marchers at the Best Western Hotel at 724 3rd Street N.W. Washington D.C. between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wristbands for Marchers who participate in the drive are being donated by Precision Dynamics Corp. of San Fernando, CA.

Everyday miracles are possible. They begin with you and flourish in the soil of loving compassion that your commitment generates.

Thank You.

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