It’s not that I don’t find Martin Luther King Jr.’s words inspiring. I do.
It’s just that posting a quote and calling it a day seems like a terrible way to honor the civil rights icon. I’m guessing he’d rather all of us work to make sure his dream gets realized, instead of posting quotes from his famous speech.
And between the insurrection on January 6, and all of the anti-voting and anti-democracy actions the Republican party has taken since then, I think we can all agree that there is a lot we need to do to inject MORE democracy into our country.
As regular readers of Political Charge know, expanding voting rights is one of my signature issues. I recently re-read MLK Jr.’s speech, Give Us the Ballot, where he so eloquently spoke about why ensuring every Black citizen’s ability to vote without barriers was so important. What I find notable is that he spends half of his speech encouraging the audience to push for changes, even in the face of negative consequences they could experience for doing so.
While we are focused on Congress, that is not the only place where democracy happens. We need to be in touch with our elected officials particularly in our state and local governments. The more local the official, the more power you have to get things accomplished. I encourage you to reflect on this past few years, and the issues that you find to be the most important in this moment in our country’s history. Make a commitment to yourself to find time every week to be in touch with your representatives about that issue (or issues.)
I’d love to hear from you — let me know what issue you will be focusing on, and how you plan to take action. Let us live our lives in a way that we wouldn’t be described by MLK Jr. as having “an anemia of deeds” as he called some of the politicians of his era.
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Categories: Uncategorized
Very well said. Act, advocate, or alter your perceptions.