TRANSCRIPTS - LEADER JEFFRIES ON KING DAY: “BUILDING UPON THE LEGACY AND THE LEADERSHIP OF DR. KING, WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, FIGHT FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE, FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE.”
BROOKLYN, NY – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at Brooklyn Art Museum’s 37th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and National Action Network’s Annual King Day Policy Forum about the challenges facing the nation and building upon the legacy of Dr. King.
Excerpted remarks at Brooklyn Art Museum’s 37th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“This is a great country. We've come a long way in America. We know we still have a way to go. The founding document of this country, the Declaration of Independence, contains these words:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
Now, these words, as the Great Barbara Jordan once pointed out, were eloquent in their articulation but incomplete in their application.
It didn't necessarily apply to the African American community, to people of color, to women, to members of the LGBTQ community. Eloquent in their articulation, incomplete in their application. But that's when heroes and legends like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped in to help turn the situation around.
To fight to bring to life principles like liberty and justice for all. Equal protection under the law. Free and fair elections. To step in and turn the situation around.
And what's interesting when you think about the life and the legacy, the moment of Dr. King, they did more with less. They didn't have internet, didn't have email, didn't have cell phones, didn't have Facebook, didn't have Instagram, didn't have Twitter, didn't even have TikTok. They did more with less.
Because they had each other and they had faith. And as a result of Dr. King leaning in at a moment of peril to try to bring these principles to life. Look at what they were able to accomplish.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act to strike the death blow against Jim Crow. The 1965 Voting Rights Act, to help bring to life our democracy for all Americans. 1968 Fair Housing Act to open up housing and trying to end discrimination in that all-important space. Medicare. Medicaid. Head Start. All of the phenomenal accomplishments of the Great Society. Dr. King and the civil rights heroes were able to do more with less. And we're grateful for that, for the progress that they have made, for the moment that they've brought us to where we still obviously have work to be done.
Work to be done.
And as Leader Schumer indicated, down in Washington, we're going to continue to lean in. To continue our country's long and necessary and majestic march toward a more perfect union.
Down in Washington, I look forward to being part of the next chapter of building upon the legacy and the leadership of Dr. King.
We're going to fight for social justice, fight for economic justice, fight for racial justice. Defend democracy, fight for freedom, protect the public interest, ensure economic opportunity in every single zip code and do everything it takes to finally pass the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act so we can end the era of voter suppression in America once and for all.
Dr. King, his faith and his work has helped to bring us this far.
And now it is up to us to lean in. To believe in the goodness of the American people and to believe in what Dr. King said to us, which is that the arc of the moral universe is long. Some good folks and some rough folks, that's the Hakeem Jeffries Brooklyn remix y'all.
The arc of the moral universe is long. But it bends toward justice. And together, we will continue America's march toward a more perfect union.”
Excerpted remarks at National Action Network’s Annual King Day Policy Forum:
“It's on all of us. To answer the question, what will we do with this opportunity? What will we do to meet the challenges of the moment? Learning from the life, the legacy, the leadership, the lessons of Dr. King.
And we've got some challenges, y'all. Folks who don't like the progress that was made, folks who want to turn back the clock. Haters running all across the land. Wickedness in high places. Folks who want to embrace the theoretical ministry of Martin Luther King Jr., but not his good works.
Celebrate him, but not elevate the work that he did. Some folks, who even they go to church and they pray on Sunday. But then they come to Washington, D.C., and they prey, P-R-E-Y, prey on the American people.
Go to church and pray on Sunday, and then come to Washington, D.C., and prey on the American people. Prey on the poor, prey on the sick, prey on the afflicted, prey on the least, the lost and the left behind.
Go to church and pray on Sunday. Come to Washington and prey on the American people the rest of the week. Want to try and take away your Social Security, take away your healthcare, take away your Medicare, take away your affordable housing, take away your reproductive freedom, take away your voting rights. But here's a newsflash. We're not going to let it happen. Not now. Not ever. In the spirit of Dr. King."
Watch Leader Jeffries' full speech at National Action Network here.