【正文】 ther grew up in the south, in a very poor family. he came of age during the depression and his own father, who struggled to feed his children, showed little affection towards his family and raised my father and his siblings with an iron fist. who could have imagined what it was like to grow up a poor black man in the south, robbed of dignity, bereft of hope, struggling to bee a man in a world that saw my father as subordinate. i was the first black artist to be played on mtv and i remember how big a deal it was even then. and that was in the 80s!
　　my father moved to indiana and had a large family of his own, working long hours in the steel mills, work that kills the lungs and humbles the spirit, all to support his family. is it any wonder that he found it difficult to expose his feelings? is it any mystery that he hardened his heart, that he raised the emotional ramparts? and most of all, is it any wonder why he pushed his sons so hard to succeed as performers, so that they could be saved from what he knew to be a life of indignity and poverty?
　　i have begun to see that even my fatheramp。39。s harshness was a kind of love, an imperfect love, to be sure, but love nonetheless. he pushed me because he loved me. because he wanted no man ever to look down at his offspring.
　　and now with time, rather than bitterness, i feel blessing. in the place of anger, i have found absolution. and in the place of revenge i have found reconciliation. and my initial fury has slowly given way to forgiveness.
　　almost a decade ago, i founded a charity called heal the world. the title was something i felt inside me. little did i know, as shmuley later pointed out, that those two words form the cornerstone of old testament prophecy. do i really believe that we can heal this world, that is riddled with war and genocide, even today? and do i really think that we can heal our children, the same children who can enter their schools with guns and hatred and shoot down their classmates, like they did at columbine? or children who can beat a defenseless toddler to death, like the tragic story of jamie bulger? of course i do, or i wouldnamp。39。t be here tonight.
　　but it all begins with forgiveness, because to heal the world, we first have to heal ourselves. and to heal the kids, we first have to heal the child within, each and every one of us. as an adult, and as a parent, i realize that i cannot be a whole human being, nor a parent capable of unconditional love, until i put to rest the ghosts of my own childhood.
　　and thatamp。39。s what iamp。39。m asking all of us to do tonight. live up to the fifth of the ten mandments. honor your parents by not judging them. give them the benefit of the doubt.
　　that is why i want to forgive my father and to stop judging him. i want to forgive my father, because i want a father, and this is the only one that iamp。39。ve got. i want the weight of my past lifted from my shoulders and i want to be free to step into a new relationship with my father, for the rest of my life, unhindered by the goblins of the past.
　　in a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. in a world filled with anger, we must still dare to fort. in a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. and in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.
　　to all of you tonight who feel let down by your parents, i ask you to let down your disappointment. to all of you tonight who feel cheated by your fathers or mothers, i ask you not to cheat yourself further. and to all of you who wish to push your parents away, i ask you to extend you hand to them instead. i am asking you, i am asking myself, to give our parents the gift of unconditional love, so that they too may learn how to love from us, their children. so that love will finally be restored to a desolate and lonely world.
　　shmuley once mentioned to me an ancient biblical prophecy which says that a new world and a new time would e, when amp。quot。the hearts of the parents would be restored through the hearts of their children.amp。quot。 my friends, we are that world, we are those children.
　　mahatma gandhi said: amp。quot。the weak can never forgive. forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.amp。quot。 tonight, be strong. beyond being strong, rise to the greatest challenge of all amp。ndash。 to restore that broken covenant. we must all overe whatever crippling effects our childhoods may have had on our lives and in the words of jesse jackson, forgive each other, redeem each other and move on.
　　this call for forgiveness may not result in oprah moments the world over, with thousands of children making up with their parents, but it will at least be a start, and weamp。39。ll all be so much happier as a result.
　　and so ladies and gentlemen, i conclude my remarks tonight with faith, joy and excitement.
　　from this day forward, may a new song be heard.
　　let that new song be the sound of children laughing.
　　let that new song be the sound of children playing.
　　let that new song be the sound of children singing.
　　and let that new song be the sound of parents listening.
　　together, let us create a symphony of hearts, marveling at the miracle of our children and basking in the beauty of love.
　　let us heal the world and blight its pain.
　　and may we all make beautiful music together.
　　god bless you, and i love you