City, state, and federal offices were closed on Monday in memory of a tremendous civil rights leader.
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Igor Volsky, Director of Video and Contributing Editor at ThinkProgress, and contributing host at the Bill Press Show spent a good part of Martin Luther King Day posting tweets of Republican politicians and right-wing pundits that claim to honor the late leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
And while scholarships are being handed out at the Hyatt, Governor Bruce Rauner will get his hands dirty for MLK Day.
That wish was finally answered in July, when a racially-motivated shooting in a black church took nine lives in Charleston and led Gov. Nikki Haley to sign legislation for its official removal.
It was one of many events across the country.
The event included appearances by all three main Democratic presidential candidates – Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley – and heavier police presence.
The theme of freedom is especially meaningful this year, she said, because it is the 50th anniversary of her father’s trip to Chicago to highlight the need for open and fair housing. Volunteers plan to travel from the Detroit suburb of Dearborn to Flint to deliver more than 40,000 bottles of water and water filters on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said during the state’s annual celebration at the Ordway Theater that King’s leadership is needed now more than ever. “Celebrate! Act! King’s Legacy of Freedom for Our World”. In a nod to that legacy, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro was set to speak at Monday’s service. He said King moved into an apartment on the city’s west side 50 years ago and described seeing “a daily battle against depression and hopelessness” as babies were attacked by rats and children wore clothes too thin to protect against the Midwest winter.
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While Marietta College was still in session today, numerous students, faculty and staff gathered to remember Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect on the role he has played in the lives of many. A grand jury declined to indict the officers involved in that shooting.
