By Carter Bundy
This year’s legislative session, unusually, started on the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It also started without the leader of the Senate, President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano, who passed just after Christmas. As we work on our New Year’s resolutions, we could all do worse than to emulate their excellence.
Very different paths
Dr. King and President Altamirano don’t seem to have too much in common. They hailed from different parts of the country, with different backgrounds. One was a minister and civil rights leader, the other a long-time politician.
One found himself in the midst of the most turbulent issue in the most intolerant parts of
One was unrelenting in taking hard stands, leading to jail time. The other found common ground among diverse interests, from business to labor, from progressive Democrats to conservative Republicans.
On the surface, Dr. King and President Altamirano didn’t have too much in common, except for three of the most important things there are: integrity, kindness and the natural result of both, respect.
Impeccable integrity
Dr. King’s integrity is unquestionable. He was willing to go to jail for his beliefs. He lost his life standing up for dirt-poor public sanitation workers in
Those workers, who carried the famous “I am a man” signs and message, are today called AFSCME Local 1733. All of labor, while mourning Dr. King’s loss, is infinitely proud that he went down standing up for what he believed in.
As a past president of Local 1733 noted, “We were on the bottom of the ladder and he dropped everything to come in for us.” If it was the right thing to do, King did it no matter where, when or who it upset.
Even more amazingly, Dr. King had the integrity to live out his beliefs not only with those he fought for, but even those who threatened his life and the life of his family. It was never about self-interest, gain or payback for Dr. King.
Similarly, Ben Altamirano, in the over five years I had the great fortune to know and work with him, and according to virtually every person lucky enough to know him for more than 10 times that long, acted with consistent integrity.
He supported labor throughout his career, even when there was pressure to cut backroom deals against labor. Workers always had their say with Ben, and he also gave business a fair hearing.
He brought labor and business together, usually with solid success, on issues from the minimum wage to collective bargaining. Both sides trusted him because he was a man of integrity.
I can’t think of a single time when Sen. Altamirano turned his back on labor because of politics, because his integrity would never allow him to do so. I imagine business people would say something similar.
Consistent kindness
The other great trait both men shared was kindness. Each would listen to the voices of everyone who came before him, and always with a gentle, concerned nature.
It’s a trait that is far too rare, but that is more valuable than any smarts, political cunning, education or money.
I, and probably most of us, can only hope to develop that level of graciousness and kindness that we all got to see up close in Ben Altamirano.
Dr. King’s non-violent revolution was met with violent resistance. But he was unflinchingly kind to all, even – especially – his enemies.
Real respect
The unqualified integrity and kindness of these two men whose lives followed different paths led to a final common trait: They were respected by all who knew them. Not the respect that comes from power, or wealth, or fear, or even admiration of talents.
Integrity without kindness is cold. Kindness without integrity is superficial. The two together are a guaranteed recipe for warm, deep respect.
All Americans are lucky to have had Dr. King lead the most important revolution in a hundred years in
It’s hard to imagine two people more deserving of our real respect.
Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in