Tributes to the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. are being held in the Unites States nationwide, on Monday January 16, 2017.
The day is being marked by massive march protests over the state of race relations, the treatment of minoritiesby law enforcement, and the results of US presidential elections.
The tone was already set by former Bernie Sanders surrogate, Nina Turner, while addressing a pumped up crowd in front of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
in Washington, D.C. She reminded the crowd that their calling is to follow in the steps of the civil rights leader Rev Martin Luther King and to take inspiration from his struggle as they ready for the long fight ahead.
"We have been here before. And I know you may be disappointed but I want you to take solace in these words: We must accept finite disappointments but never loose infinite hope. The valley may be lower, but we’ve been here before. The mountain might be higher, but we’ve been here before. ... And guess what, sisters and brothers? We can’t have a testimony without a test, and we are being tested right now for whether or not we’ve got courage enough, hope enough, fight enough, love enough to do what is necessary.”
Thousands of protesters, have been gathering in Washington, DC over the week-end and most are expected to stay there through January 20th, 2016, to protest or attend the Presidential inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
As the preparation for the celebration of the 2016 Martin Luther King Jr.'s day were under way, President Obama signed an order creating the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument in one of his final acts as the nation's first black president. The announcement on Thursday, Jan 12 made A.G. Gaston Motel, having the room once used by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to plan civil rights protests, the centerpiece of the new national monument in Alabama. In the spring of 1963, King stayed at the A.G. Gaston Motel while planning protests against legalized segregation in Birmingham, a bastion of racial hatred against blacks and bombings other attacks on blacks.
The life and times of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cannot be summarized in an article, book or tomes. However, the marches and the events being referred to by the marchers are a testimony on how far America has come, thanks to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and all the Civil Rights movement leaders and activists, and the momentous task still ahead.
