Friend,
This email is not going to be short, but I hope you take the time to read it.
In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the first Black senator since Reconstruction and the first Black senator to be popularly elected, introduced legislation that would create a holiday to honor Dr. King.
Senator Brooke’s bill never got a vote. Neither did the House companion bill authored by 39-year-old Michigan Rep. John Conyers.
For fifteen long, frustrating years, members of Congress tried and failed to establish what would become Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
But on July 29, 1983, Rep. Katie Hall, serving her first term as the first Black woman from Indiana elected to Congress, introduced the bill again, and four days later, the House voted 338 to 90 to pass the bill.
Later that fall, the Senate approved the holiday by a 78 to 22 vote, and President Reagan signed it into law. 20 years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Dr. King’s legacy was finally, deservingly honored by the government that had stood in the path of progress for African-Americans from slavery to Jim Crow.
Why is this relevant?
Last summer, we witnessed the largest mass social movement for racial justice in decades. And as our Senate majority attempts to pass legislation on voting rights, economic justice, and so many more needed reforms, our path is not without obstacles — many with legacies that nonwhite communities in our country have grappled with for generations.
But this month, the vote to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday passed the Senate unanimously. Only 14 members of the House voted against it.
This unanimous Senate vote was a product of the struggle and sacrifice so many people made to bring us to this point. It’s proof that our progress depends on your participation in the political process.
Now, this unanimous bipartisan vote occurred the same week that every single Senate Republican filibustered the For the People Act — voting against even a debate over voting rights as state governments renew the voter suppression efforts that Dr. King dedicated so much of his life to ending, that made Edward Brooke and Katie Hall firsts when Congress should have had equal representation long before then.
But this month, we made enduring progress. Because this holiday will endure — and with it, we will continue to educate, advocate, and dedicate ourselves to the cause of racial justice and equality.
And we won’t give up on voting rights. On justice. On alleviating the conditions of poverty that disproportionately harm communities of color.
But right now, with just 3 days until our end-of-quarter FEC deadline, I’m asking for your support. Because it makes a difference. If you can afford it, please contribute today. And together we will keep fighting.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
With love and gratitude,
— Cory
