On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr.’s family pushed the efforts of the Democrats in voting rights legislation passage, as they entertained interviews and spoke publicly, then led a huge march in Washington D.C., Insider reported.
Hundreds of attendees did not mind the frosty temperatures to join the DC Peace Walk across the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
The march was led by King’s family members: his son, Martin Luther King III; his granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, 13; and his daughter-in-law, Arndrea Waters King. His descendants carried a banner demanding Congress to “Deliver for Voting Rights.”
In a speech at Washington’s Union Station, the late civil rights leader’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, said: “My mother always said the holiday should be a day on, not a day off.”
“Today we’re not here to celebrate. We’re here to be on,” he said.
The federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader was seen by the Democrats as a chance to advocate for its voting rights.
Democrat President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both spoke for the passage.
King III also called on the president and the Senate to pass a couple of voting rights and cautioned “that our democracy stands on the brink of serious trouble without these bills.”
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“Last week, the president said he’s tired of being quiet about voting rights,” King said. “Well, we’re tired of being patient.”
Two voting bills are being considered by the Senate: the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Republicans, however, do not support any of the bills. A conservative filibuster could also be possible on a vote on the legislation.
King’s eldest son particularly mentioned Senators Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, who have committed to go against any move from their party to conclude the Senate filibuster.
“If you can deliver an infrastructure bill for bridges, you can deliver voting rights for Americans,” King III said. “If you do not, there is no bridge in this nation that can hold the weight of that failure.”
