(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A Message for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-14 As we celebrate the legacy of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we honor his commitment to nonviolent direct action to promote racial equality, social and economic justice, and basic human dignity for all people. These are the causes for which Dr. King made the ultimate sacrifice. Numerous individuals, like Dr. King, willingly put themselves in harm’s way and led the charge against Jim Crow segregation laws and other injustices. Let us remember to honor their bravery, commitment, and sacrifice. They say “make the MLK holiday a day on, not a day off”. Let us make it a day on to remember Diane Nash, John Lewis, and the other SNCC workers who protested whites-only lunch counters by sitting in. Make it a day on to reflect on the awesome courage of the Freedom Riders, who faced the virtual certainty of being jailed, beaten, firebombed, or even murdered. Yet they boarded the buses anyway. Make it a day on to remember the fight for voting rights, a day on to remember Hosea Williams, Andy Young, James Bevel, and 600 others, who on March 7, 1965 marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Make it a day on to recall the exceptional valor of Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran who landed at Omaha Beach. He became the first field director of the NAACP in Mississippi. He led efforts to integrate schools and public facilities, investigate the murders of local African-Americans, and register African-Americans to vote. He reminded us that “Freedom has never been free”. Make it a day on to be inspired by the extraordinary life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper with only a third grade formal education. Yet, with her eloquence, strength of character, and tenacity, she rose to become a leader in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. We owe a debt of gratitude for the progress made to all of the “veterans of creative suffering”, as Dr. King called them. We can thank them not by discounting this important part of American history, but by teaching it in our schools in an age appropriate manner. Reform voting laws not by restricting how and when one can vote, but by reaching out to underserved communities to encourage more people to vote. Let us work together to help make Dr. King’s dream a reality. Remember, freedom has never been free. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/14/2147236/-A-Message-for-the-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Holiday Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/