Honoring The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy

BALDWIN — Nassau Local 830’s Unity Committee recently held its 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Ceremony and Luncheon, an event that celebrates the life and legacy of The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

During the event, scholarships were given to deserving students and community members were honored for their activism.

Attendees were also entertained with musical and dance performances.

In addition to his civil rights work, King also had strong ties to the labor movement, dedicating himself to worker justice.

In April 1968, King had visited Memphis Tenn. to lend support to striking AFSCME-represented sanitation workers, who were working for fair wages and safe job conditions. On April 3, King delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to the sanitation workers.

King was assassinated the following day; this year marks the 50th anniversary of the civil rights pioneer’s death.
During his lifetime, King often drew connections between the civil rights and labor movements, as he did during his speech at the AFL-CIO Fourth Constitutional Convention on Dec, 11, 1961.

“Our needs are identical with labor’s needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children, and respect in the community,” King said in response to why African Americans in his time aligned themselves with the labor movement.

King drew a strong link between those against labor as those who also sought to keep a system of racial oppression in place.

King’s legacy lives on in our commitment to the labor movement and working for justice for all people.
As we face unprecedented challenges today, another quote from King’s same address also resonates.

“Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it by raising the living standards of millions,” King said. “Labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed-of levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.”

— Wendi Bowie