Like many, the US presidential hopefuls both Democrats and Republicans took the time to celebrate Martin Luther King’s legacy. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 by a sniper round while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. If he was still alive, he would have been 79 years old this year.
“We would be remiss if we did not commemorate Martin Luther King Jr., a champion of peace in a time of war,” said nephew of MLK, Isaac Newton Farris Jr. Farris also added that diplomacy and other nonviolent efforts as an alternative to military action was needed in Iraq.
Among the dignitaries attending the ceremony was former US President Bill Clinton, US Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
The Ebenezer Baptist Church was where King preached from 1960 to 1968 every year before his assassination.
“He freed us all to fight the civil rights battle, to fight the poverty battle, to fight all these battles and do it together,” Bill Clinton said. He then added: He made a place at the table for all of us.”
Clinton also made note of the diverse presidential race. His wife Hillary is aiming to be the first female president of the US. Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Barack Obama is black while Mike Huckabee is a former Baptist preacher.
“How coo is it? You know, we’ve all these different people seeking the presidency,” he said and then added: “And guess what? It’s all possible because of Martin Luther King’s vision of the beloved community.”
US Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards also spoke at today’s rally.
“It is time to not remain unsilent in this war on Iraq, and bring our men and woman home from Iraq,” Edwards said. He then added: “We can no longer stand silent – it is a betrayal to 37,000,000 people waking up in America with poverty. I did a poverty tour in Marks, Miss., an island of poverty surrounded by a sea of affluence. We have islands of poverty all over this country. We must turn the corner of shame into a corridor of hope and opportunity for the people of South Carolina.”
US Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton said that King did not only inspire Americans but people across the world.
Clinton said: “Dr. King didn’t back down from the hard work and neither can we. He followed the light of his conscience in the darkest hour and so can we.”
US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama recalled: “Unity is the great need of the hour.” Obama said that this urgency was needed to fight America’s moral decay. He would add: “King inspired with words not of anger but of urgency that speaks to us today. Unity is the great need of the hour. In South Carolina, unity is the great need of this hour, not because it sounds nice or makes us feel good but because it’s the only way for us to overcome, and the only way to get rid of the great deficit. Not trade, not new plans, I’m talking about the moral deficit in America.”
MLK Day holds a new political significance this week due to the day becoming closer to the presidential primary elections.
Corretta Scott King, the widow of MLK died in 2006 at the age of 78.
However, there were other observances of MLK Day such as Jena, Louisiana where 50 demonstrators got together in response to a call from a Mississippi segregationist. The call could be deemed a protest against MLK day.
That would be the anti-MLK Day protest. While 50 people demonstrated, 150 others showed up for a counter-demonstration.
Jena has been the news ever since six black teenagers were prosecuted under allegations of beating up a white teenager after racial tensions at the school that escalated for months.
In Pennsylvania, activists stood at the entrance to Lockheed Martin which makes weapons systems. The activist protested the war in Iraq.
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