The Liberating Power of Hope
By State Senator Kevin
Parker
With the national debate
about voter rights making daily
headline news, I cannot help
but take a more than casual
moment in contemplating the
life and legacy of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. on his 91st
birthday.
Now more than ever as we
battle serious issues such as
a global health pandemic, a
crime epidemic, police brutality,
the rollback of Civil Rights
and voter rights legislation and
high unemployment, it’s vital
that we lean into Dr. King’s
message of working together as
he exhibited in his words and
actions. Moreover, we must also
embrace his heart’s message of
hope.
For even as Dr. King stood on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington D.C. and
challenged America to look into
its soul, there were no indicators
that America was going
to change. During his lifetime,
as he passionately recited his
dream that one day “little black
boys and black girls will be able
to join hands with little white
boys and white girls as sisters
and brothers,” there was nothing
in the America of his day to
assure him that this day would
come. In fact, to the architects
of the Civil Rights Movement,
“we shall overcome . . .” someday
was real although there were no
concrete signs that “someday”
will come.
This is not a dilemma singular
to Dr. King but rather a common
experience for most freedom
fighters. Like Dr. King, the
freedoms for which many have
fought were not realized in their
State Sen. Kevin Parker.
lifetime but after their deaths.
However, they moved from a
deeper consciousness that can
only be described as … hope.
It was the strength of this
hope that carried Dr. King
through his 13 years of activism
and struggle for racial and
social equality and economic
empowerment. He lived, moved,
and acted on the hope that “an
oppressed people cannot remain
oppressed forever.”
In much the same way, we
who cherish his ideals are challenged
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to hold on to our hope.
Though Dr. King was not privileged
to live the dream, we
acknowledge the gains that
have been made through the
Herculean efforts of the forbearers
of the 60’s. We cannot
take lightly the legal protection
in the areas of public accommodations,
housing, schools, and
transportation systems.
Even so, we cannot turn a
blind eye to the fact that in
America we still have 37.2 million
poor people, including 12.5
million children, even though
our GDP is double digits higher
than it was in 1968 when Dr.
King launched the Poor People’s
Campaign. Nor can we ignore
the fact that the gap between
the rich and the poor in the
United States is at its highest
ever recorded. Or that America
has become the world’s leading
jailer with a prison industrial
complex housing 2.3 million
people. Or that corporate greed
and our government’s failed
economic policies have all but
bankrupt our country.
So, I urge you to let today be
the day when we speak truth to
power in our continued effort
for self-determination. Now we
must put this hope into action
so that our children may live
the unrealized dreams. However,
this cannot be a passive
hope. It’s not the hope where
we sit around the fire and sing
Bob Marley’s “One Love!” Nor
is the hope where we continue
to hold diversity conferences on
Zoom. Or conversely, remain
silent while more and more
Republican states threaten voting
rights by upholding the “big
lie.”
Dr. King did not just provide
us with a candle for our
journey of hope, he provided us
with a road map showing us the
way to mend broken fences and
move toward building this land
rather than destroying it. We
need to revive the moral fervor
contained in his dream while
rejecting the antiseptic version
that is being perpetuated in the
mainstream.
For we cannot trumpet Dr.
King’s ideals of non-violence and
reconciliation without acknowledging
his prophetic anger. In
fact, in his “I Have A Dream”
speech, he mentioned “police
brutality” on two separate and
distinct occasions. On another
occasion, he told his followers:
“It is not enough for us to talk
about love. There is another
side called justice … Standing
beside love is always justice. Not
only are we using the tools of
persuasion — we’ve got to use
the tools of coercion.”
Today, I celebrate Dr. King by
anchoring in the hope that “we
will be able to hew out of the
mountain of despair a stone of
hope.” And as an elected official
and the voice of those who need
a voice, I am standing on hope.
Now is the time to put meat on
the bones of hope by providing
our citizens with a living wage
with benefits. This is my hope.
And it is our hopes, not our
hurts that will liberate us.
State Sen. Kevin Parker represents
Brooklyn’s 21st Senate
district encompassing the
neighborhoods of Flatbush,
East Flatbush, Flatlands, Midwood,
Ditmas Park, Kensington,
Windsor Terrace, and Park
Slope.
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