On April 3, 1968, a tired and weary Martin Luther King, Jr., at first decided to stay in his hotel instead of attending a service at the Mason Temple in Memphis, TN. It was Ralph Abernathy, his best friend and colleague, who called to tell him the congregation was restless because they had come to see and hear him. With no prepared remarks, Dr. King made his way to the church and delivered his final and most prophetic speech.

Dr. King was in Memphis to support the over 1300 African American Memphis Sanitation Workers who were striking against discrimination, poor working conditions, and poor wages. His work on behalf of the sanitation workers along with AFSCME was in his estimation a continuation of the civil rights movement and the struggle for both racial equality and the equality of quality of life.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was senselessly and cowardly assassinated. His murder silenced a man but gave new life and voice to the civil rights movement.

Yet even for the passage of time, there is much work still left to do.

Today, because of the actions of radical Republican Governors across America the convergence of civil rights and labor rights have once again come center stage. The actions are not just about busting unions, they are about the unconstitutional taking of the rights of fellow Americans. Our fight today is no less critical to America living up to the promise of its creed than that fight in 1968 that ultimately took Dr. King from us.

Just as Dr. King, weary and tired, still fought the battles of civil rights and equality until his last breath, so we must dedicate ourselves to the battles at hand. As Dr. King would eloquently and simply remind us, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

Justice is under attack at this very moment and that threat must not prevail.

Working together with our union brothers and sisters, allied organizations, and our fellow Young Democrats, let us press forward, beating back injustice wherever it might be, knowing that we shall overcome.

On to Victory,

Colmon Elridge
Executive Vice President