WASHINGTON – Today, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement:
“Across the country today, people of all backgrounds are encouraged to pause and reflect on Dr. King’s legacy and his fight for equality. At the Lawyers’ Committee, we are reminded every day through our work that this fight is very much ongoing.
“We know that Black people and the nation as a whole continue to be harmed by deeply-rooted systemic racism that has undermined opportunity, prosperity, justice, and our democracy. Whether we’re defending access to higher education for Black students at the Supreme Court, fighting the suppression of Black voters at the polls, creating new pathways to community safety and police accountability in our neighborhoods, or standing with survivors of white supremacist harassment and violence, we channel Dr. King’s sense of moral clarity and fierce urgency in our pursuit of a more just society every day.
“It is only through making Dr. King’s fight our own—and addressing the most pressing racial justice issues of our time—that we can fulfill his dream. So, this MLK Day, we urge every person of conscience to ask themselves what they are doing—in words and deeds—to help in the fight to create the Beloved Community Dr. King spoke of so eloquently. We can best honor his legacy not only by looking back at the past, but also by taking action to create the just future we seek to build.”
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visithttps://lawyerscommittee.org
