Forty Years Later, Dr. King's Struggle Continues

Press Release

Forty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King was killed while campaigning for the rights of garbage workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Though he had already achieved so much as a prophetic leader in our country, King died at the age of 39.

Although students often learn today just of his "I have a Dream" speech about racial inequality, King had moved at the end of his life towards also confronting poverty and the Vietnam War. When he died, King was in the midst of leading a Poor People's Campaign that was supposed to end with another March on Washington - this time, a march for poor people of all races.

We owe King a deep debt of gratitude for the work he did in this country - but we owe it also to everyone that was a part of the movements that he helped lead. Every African-American man or woman who walked to work after Rosa Parks was kicked off the bus; every black teenager who sat in at a lunch counter; every young white person who traveled south for "Freedom Summer" in 1964; and every American of all ages who protested the Vietnam War was a partner in Dr. King's struggle.

Today, it is a struggle that continues, and that is left to all of us. We still struggle against hate crimes towards people because of their race, national origin, or sexual orientation; we still have a criminal justice system that imprisons far too many people of color and persons with mental illness; we still have far too many Americans suffering with poverty, homelessness, and hunger; and we are once again spending so much of our nation's resources on a war that is simply wrong.

The night before he was killed, Dr. King delivered an eerily prescient speech in Memphis:

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!

Everywhere I go in Maine's first congressional district, I meet people who are angry and frustrated with the challenges that continue to face our country. That anger and frustration is understandable, but we cannot afford to have it lead us to cynicism. As we continue Dr. King's struggle for opportunity for all, for a beloved community, and for peace, it seems that his final optimism is our best hope for moving forward.

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