MLK Statements - New Jersey Globe

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL

“In two days’ time, Kamala Harris will be sworn in as Vice President of the United States. And Reverend Raphael Warnock, who holds the same pulpit as Dr. King at Ebenezer Baptist Church, will be sworn in as the first Black Senator from Georgia. This new era of leadership is possible because of the work of generations of Americans who believed in Dr. King’s dream and the civil rights activists who risked everything in their fight for equality.

“While we celebrate and rejoice in these milestones, we must never forget that we are still very much in the process of building a more perfect Union. Racism permeates everyday life in the United States. School segregation is at the same levels as the 1960s. Police brutality continues to disproportionately affect communities of color. Black Americans are twice as likely to die from COVID-19. And for the last four years, President Trump has used bigotry and intolerance to divide us and foster a culture of fear. Our challenges are great, but I know that our resolve matches the moment.

“Voting, Dr. King once said, was America’s ‘sacred right.’ And to deny such a right was ‘a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.’ Ever since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder, however, one roadblock after another has been erected to restrict access to the ballot box. Officials have purged voter rolls, set strict ID requirements, and closed polling locations, among other measures to suppress the vote. We can honor Dr. King’s legacy and America’s democratic tradition by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act to help secure the right to vote for every American.

“There is much work to be done to ensure that all Americans have access to equal opportunity. I look forward to doing my part in the 117th Congress, alongside the Biden-Harris administration, to move our country forward, ever closer to Dr. King’s beloved community.”

U.S. SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ

“Our need as a nation to follow the legacy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has perhaps never been more urgent. The events of this past year include a long overdue reckoning with racially-biased police brutality, an ongoing fight against a deadly pandemic that has disproportionately killed people of color, and most recently an insurrection against the United States Congress and our Constitution that revealed in all its tragedy our country’s continued struggle against white supremacy.”

“As armed insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, waving the Confederate Flag, wearing anti-Semitic slogans, and displaying other symbols of racial hatred, I can only hope it was a wake-up call to all Americans just how much more work we must do to heal our divisions and build a more just and equitable nation.”

“We are nowhere close to being free of the racist shackles that have plagued our country for centuries. We have witnessed how easily duplicitous leaders can fan the flames of bigotry and embolden those who want to take us backwards. But we are moving forward. In a fierce repudiation of this hateful ideology and in a true testament to our nation’s resiliency, Americans have elected the first Black and South Asian woman to serve as their Vice President and the people of Georgia have elected their first Black and Jewish senators.”

“These recent and incredibly trying days will no doubt be remembered as among the darkest in our nation’s history. Yet I cannot help but remember the words of Dr. King, who said: ‘Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.’”

“This year, in the spirit of Dr. King, we must resolve to be that love and light our nation so sorely needs to drive out this darkness and bring forward brighter days ahead.”

REPUBLICAN STATE CHAIRMAN MICHAEL LAVERY

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s life and legacy represent an important message to us all. During these divisive times, it will do our state and nation well to reflect back on what he stood for: equality and freedom for all. As we work to unify our nation, we can all rally around this common goal.”

SENATE PRESIDENT STEVE SWEENEY

“In the final weeks before his death, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., began moving well beyond his cry for civil rights and voting rights to everyday realities facing too many African-American families in the 1960s, such as being able to find work that paid a livable wage, finding affordable housing, and accessing higher education and jobs skills that remained out of reach because of institutional racism and segregation.

“Indeed, in that time period, Reverend King led a campaign to bring equitable and affordable housing to minority communities in Chicago, and launched his ‘Poor People’s Campaign,’ realizing that alongside education, income and housing were the keys to a better life. We saw him fight valiantly for sanitation workers in Memphis who had been underpaid and had been forced to work dangerous jobs with little protection and no regard for their health or well-being.

“As we in New Jersey continue to support Reverend King’s calls for justice and equality these 50 years later, we hope to move beyond what he once called the ‘shallow things,’ to meat and potato issues that constitute forms of economic justice, which of course are also forms of social justice. We have to better enable black-owned businesses to grow in scale, and see them have more access to capital so they can hire more people, and start to break the cycle of unemployment in our urban communities.

“Today at events hosted by Rowan University and also in Newark at a town hall presented by the Reverend Dr. David Jefferson, I sought to emphasize these points and to bring home the still vital message of equality in all areas of life. Later in the afternoon, I will be participating in a Zoom meeting with former Governor McGreevey and Reverend Bolivar Flores to continue to bolster the efforts of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, a compassionate, practical form of economic and social justice that I’m sure Reverend King would have championed.”

Spread the news:

RELATED ARTICLES