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John,
When I was in my early teens, my mom met my stepfather Jesse. Their marriage made us a mixed race family.
I never thought any different of Jesse for his race; I just knew him as a great stepdad. But the small Alabama community we lived in at the time took notice, and it didn’t take long for me to see the ugly legacy of racism was still thriving there.
I saw discrimination, racism, and bigotry all around me. At school, I recognized the difference in how one of my teachers treated Black students compared to others. In Selma, I witnessed firsthand horrendously racist signs that read “Keep your black a** off the road.”
One time, two racists in a pickup truck draped with the confederate flag chased down Jesse and my mom, attempting to run them off the road.
My mom was always very politically aware, and a lifelong Democrat. Even before the racism around us affected our family directly, we’d march to the capital every year we lived in Alabama to commemorate and celebrate the civil rights movement.
I’ve never forgotten those lessons, nor how much work we still have to do. I will continue to march, advocate, and protest for the rights and fair treatment of Black Americans until that work is done.
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Left: Ike and Danielle Young-Kombo, president of the local NAACP chapter where Ike is a member, attend a Black Lives Matter rally. Young-Kombo has endorsed Ike for Congress this year. Right: Ike and a crowd at the BLM event listen to a local speaker.
No one can deny that the equal and equitable country Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for has yet to be achieved.
So here are my commitments to you, in service of Dr. King’s legacy:
As your congressman, I will fight to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to protect Black voters from being excluded by GOP states’ racially-targeted legislative attacks.
I will work with Black leaders to address systemic injustices against Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities.
I will introduce legislation for a new Equal Rights Amendment ([link removed]) guaranteeing EVERY American protection from institutional oppression and discrimination on the basis of race, gender, gender identity, disability, faith, religion, or creed.
And with increasing efforts from an extreme, far-right minority to censor teachers and ban books, we also need leaders in Congress who will work to stop the erasure of Black history from public education and the banning of historically-accurate books from public libraries.
For today, in honor of Dr. King, I ask you all to join me in making a contribution to The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the official foundation where Dr. King’s work is carried on by his family and a new generation of civil rights leaders.
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Dr. King envisioned a future free of poverty, racism, and militarism – one “Beloved Community” built on love, justice, and freedom for all.
We must continue to fight every day to fulfill the promise of justice and equality for every American, and to bring Dr. King’s vision to life. We owe it to his legacy, but also to ours.
Semper fi,
Isaac "Ike" McCorkle
Combat Wounded
U.S. Marine Corps, Retired
Democratic Candidate for CO-04
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Ike McCorkle is a Purple Heart recipient, Marine Force Recon Veteran, and the 2022 Democratic nominee in Colorado's 4th Congressional District. Ike will fight for working class families and to restore the people's trust in American Government and leadership.
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