Lateefah Simon: “Dr. Clarence Jones, the speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, told me a story that, during the civil rights protests…”

“Dr. Clarence Jones, the speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, told me a story that, during the civil rights protests in the mid-1960s, hundreds of Black, White, and Jewish young people sat at lunch counters throughout the South, understanding and knowing what they were up against, while the Klan burned cigarettes on their backs, spit in their faces, pushed them from behind, and knocked them down. They were led outside to hoses and dogs. Harry Belafonte and Dr. Clarence Jones, on a push from Dr. Martin Luther King, drove up to New York City and sat with donors and folks on the right side of justice to get bail to bail out those hundreds of children. Would we rather they sit in jails in the Deep South and be beaten and killed? Mr. Speaker, think about what we are asking today: for churches and charities to stop their mission to ensure that people in this country have the life, liberty, and due process that they so deserve.”