By Congressman Kweisi Mfume
On August 28, 1963, as a 14-year-old kid, I remember watching the TV broadcast of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ushering in the largest civil rights gathering of our time – the March on Washington. Dr. King was introduced as the “moral leader of our nation” and delivered a message which empowered the 250,000 people in attendance and countless others listening around the nation.
Television was not always live as we know it today, and so, for most of us Dr. King’s immortal “I Have a Dream” speech was remembered through a delayed evening broadcast with grainy black-and-white footage and commentators attempting to describe something that the nation had not seen up to that point in terms of the sheer number of people involved. His words brought my mother to tears, and I sat in our tiny rowhouse with my three sisters all motionless from the magnificent power of his words.
I also recall the numbness I felt on the evening of April 4, 1968, when Dr. King – who led with non-violence – was taken from us in such a cruel manner by the single bullet of a lone assassin. When I first heard the words that evening that “Dr. King is dead,” like so many others my heart raced and then sank immediately. As I reflect back on the life of Dr. King, I am reminded of a man who was unawed by opinion, unseduced by flattery and undismayed by disaster. He confronted life with the courage of his convictions, and then confronted death with the courage of his faith.
In 1980, as a young member of the Baltimore City Council, I petitioned the Council to join with other local governments around the country to push for the establishment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a legal holiday. For years, every January 15th, I drove down to Washington, D.C. to join recording artists and civil rights leaders Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Jesse Jackson, Congressman John Conyers and thousands of others who rallied on the steps of the Capitol around this issue. Later, I would repeatedly draft and introduce resolutions that would seek to certify Dr. King’s birthday as a legal holiday in Baltimore.
The federal legislation to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first introduced by Democratic Michigan Congressman John Conyers, just days removed from the assassination of Dr. King. It would take 15 years of perseverance, tenacity and resolve by civil rights activists for the holiday to be recognized and signed into federal law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, and then an additional 17 years for it to be recognized in all 50 states across the country.
Fittingly, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designed so as to intentionally inspire all Americans to volunteer and give back to their communities. In fact, it is the only federal holiday classified as a National Day of Service. I look forward to honoring his memory by continuing this tradition of service this year on January 20th.
I will be spending this year’s day of service serving meals and volunteering at Baltimore’s Our Daily Bread Employment Center and visiting with veterans of various needs at the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVET). Then, I will join hundreds of community residents to march in and celebrate at the City’s annual MLK Day parade. Teaching by example is how all of us – no matter who we are – can find a way to give back. As such, I will be doing that again this year and will not be in attendance at the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump as they both fall on the same day. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that I understand the decisions of others who plan to attend the inauguration ceremony despite it coinciding with MLK Day. In the past, I have attended the inaugurations of both Democratic and Republican presidents. For me, attendance at the ceremony has always been a choice made out of respect for the office, no matter which party was in the White House. But in this instance, I cannot deny all of the work and effort that I and so many others put in to making this MLK Day a holiday. I feel personally driven in respect to the life and legacy of Dr. King to celebrate it how I always have – through acts of service. I take pride in defending this honorable and solemn day. And in regard to my absence at President-elect Trump’s inauguration, I don’t think they’ll miss me.
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