By Dr. Quintessa Hathaway, Ed.D.
On this day fifty-six (56) years ago at 6:01pm Central, the United States lost a King. In Adam Fairclough’s book, “Redeem the Soul of America,” he expressed “The bullet fired by James Earl Ray clothed King in martyrdom: critics fell silent; even enemies hid their venom.” The nation was literally on fire. Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington ordered four thousand (4,000) National Guard members to the streets of Memphis to calm the uprising and rioting.
That tension was fueled by extinguishing of the teachings and life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He uncovered the thoughts, the mystery, history, philosophy, theology, and psychology of humanity. He brought international attention to injustices in institutions. The current generation is called to do this same. No longer should we question our sacred fundamental principles. Human dignity is crafted in legislation, represented in litigation, and brought to bear by agitation. The Second Civil Rights Movement requires us to become untangled from the webs of disenfranchisement, division, and discrimination. What is upon us now, moreover in the former Confederate States of America, the former Jim and Jane Crow South, is legal limitations to liberty and a lack of political will by elected officials to bring about substantial change for all people. This country has repeatedly refused constitutional and legal recognition to end racial gerrymandering, voter purges, second primaries, and valid excuse absentee ballot requests, multilingual voting material, national voting standards, and Election Day voter registration. We must forcefully accept the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act as law of the land.
From his work, “All Labor Has Dignity,” Rev. Dr. King stated, “The dramatic growth and maturation of the movement aroused the entire nation and resulted in historic legislation enactments which are altering the face of the South to a degree undreamed of…” I urge Americans to experience a new burst of freedom and a new spirit of excellence. We can arouse this nation to form a more perfect union and to use our most powerful instrument, the ballot. That is how we “redeem the soul of America” and establish a moral imagination and produce transformation. That is how we “make real the promises of democracy” and walk down “the sunlit path of racial justice.”
