Alex Padilla: “just yesterday, we, the Nation, celebrated the moral vision and exceptional courage of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther…”

“just yesterday, we, the Nation, celebrated the moral vision and exceptional courage of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Born and raised under the violent oppression of Jim Crow segregation, Dr. King deeply felt the lasting wounds of slavery and segregation. Yet he believed in the promise of America's highest ideal: a system of democracy that we are all created equal; democracy that recognizes that we are all created equal. In 1957, Dr. King told a crowd of civil rights leaders: Our most urgent plea to the federal government is to guarantee our voting rights. He went on to say: Give us the ballot and we will creatively join in the freeing of the soul of America. Time and again, from a bridge in Selma to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King and the civil rights movement collectively forced this country to confront the brutal injustice of White supremacy. Dr. King kindled a movement of peaceful protests, of voter registration, and a legal revolution. His leadership helped secure the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965--a monument to freedom and a guardian of our multiracial democracy. As important a step as that was, Dr. King also understood that the path of progress, the road to freedom, would not be linear, it would not be direct, and it would be threatened by setbacks. Recent years have illustrated just how right Dr. King was.…”