On June 5, Robert Kennedy, having just won the California Democratic primary, was shot by Sirhan Sirhan. He died the next day. I was 17 years old, and I revered Bobby. I was awoken for school the next morning by my father's shouts, asking me if I were still against the death penalty. When I learned why he was yelling this at me, my light went dark. To this day I have never felt about another politician or world leader exactly what I felt for Robert Kennedy. My youth ended that day.
Bobby died of his mortal wounds on June 6, two years to the day after he delivered a speech at Capetown, South Africa that is now immortalized on a wall of the John F. Kennedy museum. This is the quote I keep next to my heart when I think of Bobby and all that might have been had he lived. It is a quote I live by as best I can.
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.