ICYMI: To Mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Rep. Magaziner Calls for Action at Events Across Rhode Island
ICYMI: To Mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Rep. Magaziner Calls for Action at Events Across Rhode Island
Washington, D.C. – To commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Representative Seth Magaziner celebrated Dr. King’s legacy by calling for action during his remarks at several events across Rhode Island yesterday.
In the morning, Rep. Magaziner joined the Minister's Alliance of Rhode Island at their Annual Scholarship Breakfast in Cranston. Next, Magaziner headed to Woonsocket, where he joined the local MLK Committee’s Commemoration at the MLK Sculpture at the corner of South Main & Mason Streets. Magaziner closed out the day by attending the State of Rhode Island’s MLK Day Ceremony at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Providence, where he delivered the following remarks:
“There are few figures in American history as inspirational as Dr. King. His urgent appeals for justice awoke the moral conscience of a generation, and his relentless pursuit of equality moved our nation closer to the ideals upon which we were founded. But Dr. King was not always universally regarded as a hero.
As a matter of fact, 63% of Americans held an unfavorable opinion of Dr. King in one of the final polls conducted before his death.
Why? Because Dr. King understood that you have to be willing to make people uncomfortable in order to make progress. He understood that you have to challenge people to do better than they thought they could do in order to create progress.
Today, we rightly recognize Dr. King as one of the greatest Americans to ever live, but even today, far too many people seem eager to use his words while neglecting their meaning.
You see this every year. Politicians and other talking heads, they post the graphics on social media with the quotes and all the rest.
They quote Dr. King in one breath, and then oppose voting access laws in the other breath.
They quote Dr. King in one breath, and then they oppose laws for better wages, more affordable health care, and better education.
They quote Dr. King in one breath, and then support the gun companies over safe communities in the next.
Quoting Dr. King in one breath and then make excuses for the racist mob that stormed the Capitol in the next breath.”
Video of Rep. Magaziner’s remarks can be found here.
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