Family members of Martin Luther King Jr. lead a march in Washington D.C. to request the Democrats lead by President Joe Biden to pass a bill that would protect voters’ rights. Supporters of the civil rights leader joined in. As no Republican is supporting the bill, they want the Democrats to pass the bill in the Senate.
King’s eldest son criticized Biden and the entire Congress for not being able to pass the voting rights legislation. This bill had increased in importance after 19 Republican states have made the voting process tougher after Trump complained about election rigging and more. Although Democrats are working to continue to try to pass the legislation, its failure is almost certain as they don’t have the required numbers to pass the bill in the Senate.
Biden described the opposition of the Republicans to voting rights reform as a “true attack on our democracy from the Jan. 6 insurrection to the onslaught of Republican anti-voting laws in a number of states.” He considered it to be “two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion.”
Monday, today would have been the 93rd birthday of the civil rights leader. In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was only 39 years old when he was assassinated. He had been helping sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tennessee. They were on strike as they wanted to get better pay and also wanted safety at their workplace.
King had made a strong appeal to the nation with his “I have a dream” speech which he made on August 28, 1963, when he lead a historic March on Washington. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his non violent protests as he pushed for civil rights and social change.
Atlanta has planned a series of events on MLK day which is a federal holiday. The events include a march and a rally. The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda and Youth Service America is holding a voter registration drive, to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.
