Kamala Harris, first Vice President of color, pays tribute to Martin Luther King, who championed voting rights

SCREEN CAPTURE

Vice President Kamala Harris invoked Martin Luther King to voting rights bills

ANALYSIS

The nation's first Black and Asian American Vice President paid tribute to  civil rights icon, Martin Luther King, and tied his "dream" to voting rights, which are under assault today.

King, whose Jan. 15 birthday is being celebrated this weekend,  "pushed for racial justice, for economic justice, and for the freedom that unlocks all others: the freedom to vote," said Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke virtually this morning from Washington to an event hosted by King's church, the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia.

 

"Today, our freedom to vote is under assault.  In Georgia and across our nation, anti-voter laws are being passed that could make it more difficult for as many as 55 million Americans to vote — 55 million Americans.  That is one out of six people in our country," Harris continued.

RELATED: MLK saw the linkage between Asian Americans and African Americans

Although she was addressing a Georgia audience, she was also talking to the U.S. Senate, which must muster enough votes to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, which would reinstall those portions of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court weakened in a ruling ten years ago and eliminated last year.

Since those decisions, states, mostly those controlled by Republican administrations, are "putting in place obstacles to the ballot box.  They are also working to interfere with our elections to get the outcomes they want and to discredit those they do not.  That is not how democracies work.

 
"We know the threat we face.  We know that this assault on our freedom to vote will be felt by every American, in every community, in every political party.," said Harris.

"A landmark bill, as we all know, sits before the United States Senate: 'The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act,'  This bill represents the first real opportunity to secure the freedom to vote since the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act nearly a decade ago.  And the Senate must pass this bill now," stressed Harris.

The legislation is named after Georgia's late Senator John Lewis, who marched with King during the 1960s civil rights rallies and demonstrations. 

Split at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, the chances are poor to zero for the U.S. Senate to pass the bill. Why is the GOP vehemently against the bill? Basically, the act would provide voter access for millions of voters who -- for various reasons -- find it difficult to vote.

 

Included among the seemingly common-sense provisions in the John Lewis voting act but have turned into partisan issues, are:

• Make Election Day a federal holiday.
• Allow online, automatic, and same-day voter registration.
• A minimum of 15 days of early voting, including during at least two weekends.
• No-excuse mail voting with ample access to ballot drop boxes and online ballot tracking, in addition to streamlined election mail delivery by the US Postal Service.
• States would need to accept a wide range of forms of non-photographic identification in places where ID is required to vote.
• Would ban gerrymandering of districts that harm representation of communities of color.
• Counting eligible votes on provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct.
• Greater federal protections and oversight for voting in US territories.
• The bill also includes the Right to Vote Act, which creates an affirmative right to vote in federal law.
• Most significantly, it creates a new formula to restore the federal preclearance requirement mandating states with histories of discrimination to seek permission from the federal government before enacting new voting rules or redistricting plans.

"You know, it was more than 55 years ago that men, women, and children marched from Selma to Montgomery to demand the ballot," said Harris.

 
"When they arrived at the state capitol in Alabama, Dr. King decried what he called 'normalcy' — the normalcy, the complacency that was denying people the freedom to vote," said the Vice President.
 
"As Dr. King said, the only normalcy he would accept is “'he normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all God’s children,'" she said.

"Today, we must not be complacent or complicit.  We must not give up, and we must not give in.
 
In conclusion, Harris said: "To truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote, for freedom for all." 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspsective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd. And yes, a word of caution, this news article is laced with my own unabashed opinion.

MLK's monument's Chinese designer: 'King's vision is still living, in our minds; ..., we still need him'"

DC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The likeness of Martin Luther King emerges out of the Stone of Hope

Like the Vietnam War Memorial designed by Maya Lin, the sculpture at the centerpiece of the memorial to civil rights leader Martin Luther King was sculpted by an Asian artist.

Today (Jan. 21) we remember the assassinated American hero who inspired a movement that changed the course of the United States tand benefited all Americans but chiefly ensured the rights of people of color and immigrants. His inspiration broke the boundaries of intolerance and even national borders, as he became a symbol, recognized worldwide of the quest for civil rights of the world's citizens.

The winning MLK monument design is by Master Lei Yixin, a citizen of China. His sculture, chosen from an international competition, was inspired by the line from King's "I Have a Dream" speech, "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

Visitors walk through two massive white granite halves of the "Mountain of Despair" to reach the "Stone of Hope," from which the sculpture of King emerges. 

"Dr. King's vision is still living, in our minds; we still miss him, we still need him," said Yixin through a translator, calling the sculpture the most important of his life, technically and emotionally. "I am trying to present Dr. King as ready to step out ... this is King's spirit, to judge people from their character, not race, color or background." 

Lei's selection in an international competition was not without controversy. The Chinese sculptor's monumental works in China caught the eye of Ed Jackson, the executive architect of the Martin Luther King Foundation, who named Lei the head sculptor for the "Stone of Hope" monument in 2007.

PINTEREST

Lei Yixin sculpts a large size model that expresses thoughtful hope.

African American sculptor Ed Dwight was quoted by the Washington Post at the time as arguing that because Lei is not black, "he doesn't know how black people walk, how they stand, how their shoulders slope." In May 2008, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts called the artist's design "too confrontational," and recommended that the monument be rethought.

Lei has clearly sought to sensitively portray his subject. Lei said that "you can see the hope" in King's face, according to the Tribune Chronicle. "But his serious demeanor also indicated that he's thinking."

The 30-foot sculpture, which was done in China and shipped to the U.S., depicts the civil rights leader emerging from a block of white granite. Standing stiffly to attention with arms crossed and a serious expression on his face, King is depicted as stern and authoritative.

Lei intends the visitor to walk through the mountain of despair to the stone of hope. The memorial’s stone of hope appears to be quarried (hewed) from a larger stone, a slow a laborious process, much like the process to end racial segregation and discrimination in the U.S. The stone has been pushed forward, symbolizing the forward progress in the achievement of civil rights in America.

The unfinished likeness of King is intentional ; just as his life was tragically cut short at just 39 years of age, and just as the movement for civil rights he helped lead is unfinished today. King is looking south toward the horizon, paper, possibly a speech or sermon in hand, in a defiant pose, symbolizing his defiance of injustice.

The ROMA Design Group, the San Francisco architecture firm that designed the project before Lei was picked as sculptor. The monument's official address is 1964 Independence Avenue SW, in honor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation in which King played an important role.

The dedication had been planned for Aug. 28, 2011, the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. But it was delayed by Hurricane Irene, which swept through Washington with high winds and rain. It was finally unveiled in October 16, 2011 by President Barack Obama, the country's first black President.

The MLK Memorial opens to the National Mall Tidal Basin.

The following quotations are engraved on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial:

Statue

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."
From the "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. The quotation serves as the theme of the overall design of the memorial, which realizes the metaphorical mountain and stone.

South Wall

"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Washington National Cathedral, March 31, 1968.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
Strength to Love, 1963.

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.

"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.

DIOKNO

Martin Luther King's words are an inspiration for all Americans.

"I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world."
Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 26, 1967.

"If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."
Christmas sermon, Atlanta, Georgia, 1967.

North Wall

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963.

"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964

"It is not enough to say 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace."
Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 25, 1967.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Strength to Love, 1963.

"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies."
New York City, April 4, 1967.

"We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"
Montgomery, Alabama, December 5, 1955. Here, King borrows a verse from the Bible, the Book of Amos, which he frequently reused in speeches.

"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience."
Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965.

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
Stride Toward Freedom, 1958

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd

_______________________________________________________________________________

The debt Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders owe to Martin Luther King, Jr.

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. is an American hero whose birthday we celebrate today (his real birthdate is Jan. 15). 

While his fight for equality and justice is mostly seen in the context of the black/white paradigm, his role as America's moral conscience in America's goal to become the America in deeds as well as the lofty words of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, affects all of us, even Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders.

With the racist immigration restrictions that favored European immigrants, it was not until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act that the great influx of Asian immigration began and continues today to the point where the greatest number of immigrants today are coming from Asia, not Latin America as generally perceived by the public and mainstream media.

RELATED:

• A word from MLK and white supremacists 
• Some thoughts on MLK Day and today's America

Therefore, most AAPIs living in the U.S. are relatively recent arrivals or are too young to understand pre-1965 America. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act followed on the heels of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson.

Most of the rights and opportunities AAPI enjoy today are the result of that pre-1965 civil rights struggle.

However, the importance of MLK and the Civil Rights Movement that resulted in rights taken for granted today, may be lost on those who did not live in the United States before the mid-60s. These include:

• Immigration: Before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed, The U.S. immigration policy favored Europeans over other countries from Africa, Latin America and Asia. Now, each country is allowed an equal quota. Today, the largest number of immigrants are coming from Asia.
• Voting rights protection: Bilingual ballots where there are large numbers of speakers of a language other than English and prohibition of discrimination against language minority groups. Today, those rights are threatened by states asking for additional documentation and proof of residency and citizenship.
• Interracial marriage: In the 1967 case of Loving vs. State of Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court banned all laws prohibiting marriage with other races. Previously, each state had to throw out that racist law But it wasn't until 2000 when Alabama becomes the last state to officially legalize interracial marriage.
• Affirmative action: The law allowed educational institutions and government whose workforce didn't represent the general populace to put in place actions or policies to correct that imbalance.

Although there were many Asian American individuals who worked, marched, protested or inspired by King's work, their roles have been left out of the history books and overlooked by mainstream media.

And the majority of the AAPI community who arrived after 1965 don't know that history or the individuals such as Grace Lee, Larry Itliong, Gordon Hirabayashi, Daniel Inouye, Fred Korematsu and countless others whose stories need to be told.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders still reap from the benefits of the work of Martin Luther King Jr. The AAPI community shouldn't forget that debt. The best way to honor the martyr's life is to publicly acknowledge our indebtedness of the blood that was shed so we may reap the rights that came out of that work. We can repay that debt by continuing  to work towards King's dream by ensuring that those protections remain in place for others to enjoy.

DIOKNO

The blogger visits the MLK Monument in Washington. D.C.

Dr. King was killed by an assassin's bullet in 1968. The same ignorant, fearful beliefs held by King's killer, are still among us today, working to overturn much of King's work by inciting hate and fostering division. It is the same fear that inspired Dylann Roof to shoot nine African American members of a bible study class in Charleston, South Carolina, the same hatred that works to put in voter restrictions in some states, the same ignorance that advocates deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and the same evil that prompts men with guns to take over a bird sanctuary in Oregon; and the same fear that cause the white supremacists he incited to attack the Capitol on behalf of Donald Trump.

MLK Day is not a day for just African Americans. It is a day all Americans need to reflect on King's dream and the journey taken by countless unsung heroes, to where we are today ... some might say we have taken a few steps back ... and how far we still need to travel to reach the "promised land."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.