I w my from both sides of the aisle f senator again us somethingew. Nn hearshese and bigger na by saying this. The letterrom j wr clergy as senator was speaking about the importance os liberties, the o thing he said at the end was, we s all the the economic] racial issues, and i thought its and appropriate that following that its important and e that following that speech you have the reading of the letter from the birmingham jailo leaders, the religious leadezb to become struggle. Change comes to america. Thank you leading this mr. Kennedy madamresident . The presiding offir the senato from louisiana. Mr. Nnedy madam president , with me today is one of my colleagues from my office, mr. Blaine clus. Madam president , the dr. King. Letter from a birmingham jail. E city jail, i came across youram recent statement calling my unw . Untimely. I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If i sought to answer all of th, my secretaries would have little time other than such correspondenc
Luther king jr. Was arrested in my hometown of birmingham, alabama. His crime, leading a peaceful march to protest the indignity suffered by the black community and the jim crow era. He had violated the ban on public demonstrations which targeted the growing resistance of africanamericans to the injustices they were insuffering. While in solitary confinement in birmingham, dr. King wrote what became known as the letter from the birmingham jail, a stinging response to a group of white clergy in alabama who had denounced his tactics and questioned the wisdom and timing of his arrival in birmingham. They insisted he was an outside agitator coming to alabama to instigate trouble. Dr. King responded famously. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In his letter he rejected the idea that africanamericans should be more patient for change in the face of the daily indignities inflicted by segregation, in the face of threats of violation. There comes a time, he wrote, when the cu
Columbia record in columbia, south carolina. The moderator, robert the senior senator from ohio. Thank you. Brown presents an honor to join my colleagues of both parties on the floor today to read one of the greatest pieces of writing of the 20th century. Dr. Kings letter from the birmingham jail. I thank senators warnock and tell us in kc and capitol and bozeman and rosen for joining me. Madam president , i ask unanimous consent that after i speak a briefly, you will recognize in this order, senator warren, senators warnock, tillis, kc than me then capitol in bozeman and rosa. Without objection. Thank you, madam president. Our former colleague, doug jones from alabama began this bipartisan tradition that happened in his state. And its an honor to carry it. Today, we recommit to dr. Kings mission to equal rights for all, to ensuring that every voice is heard and to the dignity of work. On friday, we walk, we marked workers memorial day. When we honor workers killed on the job over the
Mr. Brown madam president. The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Brown thank you, madam president. Madam president , i join we joined last year to do this reading. Im glad shes presiding today. Its an honor to jape my join my colleagues on the floor to read dr. Kings letter from the birmingham jail. Thanks to senator cassidy first, casey, lankford, britt, butler who will wrap it up for joining for this annual bipartisan tradition. Every year, we bring together three republicans and three democrats to read one of the greatest pieces of writing of the 20th century and reflect on the mission and powerful words ever dr. King. This year, a reading falls right after workers memorial day, which we marked on sunday, a day when we honor all the workers killed on the job over the past year, workers past year, workers injured and killed throughout our history. Every year on that date im reminded of dr. Kings final trip, second trip of the year, his final trip to memphis. He went to sta
Freedom. I come to say to you this fternoon, i understand the hour. It will not be long. How long . Not long. You will reap what you sew. This is called an illustrated guide to the cradle of freedom. And basically, it looks at the hist referee the Civil Rights Movement in beal kind of telling the story geographically. I wrote a book history telling it chronologically. And kind of the theme of both books is that alabama had a central role in the Civil Rights Movement starting the montgomery busboy time in 1956 on through the freedom rides, the Birmingham Movement in 1963 and the settlement in 1965. But there are a lot of smaller stories scattered all around the state including here in mobile. And so i try to tell those as well. A lot of them were people i had never heard of, you know . And in many ways they were as ordinary as, you know, as you or me, except they did these Amazing Things under such stressful situations that existed at the time. And so it seemed to me that it was a movem