The family of Martin Luther King Jr. organized a rally in Arizona ahead of the late civil rights activist’s federal holiday on Saturday. The rally was held in support of passing federal voting rights legislation.
The gathering was held at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Phoenix. Several local activists were in attendance.
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Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of MLK, discussed the issue with MSNBC’s Vaughn Hillyard on Saturday. He explained that over a dozen states have passed laws restricting voting access in the last year. Some of these measures include banning 24-hour voting access, banning the handing out of food and water to voters, and more.
“Arizona, in one sense, is near ground zero. I say near because unfortunately, there are 19 states that have passed regressive laws, including our own state of Georgia.”
King III also called out Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema for standing in opposition to filibuster reform. Some options that have been floated for reform include reinstating the “talking filibuster,” which would require whoever is holding up a bill to stay present on the Senate floor.
He added that they “believe that as it relates to getting this, these bills passed, that Senator Sinema has been one of the challenges,” adding that, “it made sense to come to Arizona,” because, “some regressive laws, we feel, have been put in place that make it harder for people to vote.”
[Via]