Congressman Cohen Commemorates Dr. King’s Birthday and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday and Day of Service

MEMPHIS – WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) plans to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Friday and the National Holiday and Day of Service in his honor on Monday by encouraging everyone to recall his prescient words delivered in Memphis the night before he was killed: "We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."

Congressman Cohen noted that, in normal, non-pandemic times, he would eagerly participate in crowded, King-inspired public events this weekend but that this year requires social distancing and limited crowd sizes.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 92 on Friday and we have the entire three-day weekend to recall what might have been. The birthday and the national holiday we commemorate on Monday are times for quiet contemplation, reverence and sorrow. In his day, King was the conscience of the nation, teaching us the true meaning of fairness and justice. His dream inspired a movement that continues to demand changes. The past year shows just how far from that dream we have strayed. We can continue to work to eliminate poverty, end unfair policing practices, ensure better access to health care, protect voting rights and assure the right of workers to organize, but it will take a dedicated effort. Let's renew our promise to strive every day to meet make Dr. King's aspirations. As he said in Memphis the night before he died, ‘We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.'"