2018-01-16
Matin Luther King Day 2018
On the third Monday of each January, Americans honor the memory of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.Dr. King, a Baptist minister from the southern state of Alabama, was a leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, advocating social change through non-violent means. On January15th, he would have celebrated his eighty sixth birthday.
Believing that "change does not roll in on the wheel of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle," Dr. King organized and participated in mass-action boycotts, sit-ins, peaceful marches and other non-violent acts of civil disobedience.
Dr. King's, and the Civil Rights Movement's greatest achievement came in 1964, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act which outlawed segregation in public places, as well as employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender or national origin. The Civil Rights Act spawned the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which forbids racial discrimination in voting, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing and financing for the purchase of a home, based on race and national origin.
Her plight generated national attention and increasing sympathy for her cause across the country.
Dr. King was thirty nine years old when he died by an assassin's bullet on April 4th, 1968. But his legacy lives on.
Dr. King's life is well summed up in his own word:" The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."
Words:
seamstress
Detained Iranian Protesters Under Threat
Now human rights monitors are concerned that those recently arrested are in danger of suffering the same ill-treatment endured by many of the 2009 demonstrators after their mass arrest, including torture, rape and murder.
Those concerns have increased at the news that one detainee, Sina Ghanbari, died while in custody at Evin prison.
Some 22 people were killed during the country-wide demonstrations which started on December 28, and spread from economic to political protests. While some protesters who were detained have been released, hundreds reportedly remain behind bars.
She made clear that the United States supports the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people who demand change from a corrupt and oppressive government.
I call on all my colleagues to join me in amplifying the message of the Iranian people.
The United States stands unapologetically with those in Iran who seek freedom for themselves, prosperity for their families, and dignity for their nation.
In the wake of the arrests of thousands of brave Iranians who raised their voice in support of freedom and human rights, the world is still watching to see if the regime continues its horrific pattern of abuse in prisons it has filled.
Words:
distinguished