At a time in Minnesota marked by tension and protest, speakers at Martin Luther King Jr. Day events Monday reflected on the death of Renee Good, the assassination of state Rep. Melissa Hortman as well as the need to avoid further division and violence.
The 40th anniversary of the state-sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, titled ‘One Dream. One Minnesota. Echoes of Unity’ held at the Ordway Concert Hall in St. Paul and the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast in Minneapolis sponsored by General Mills recognized community leaders, King’s legacy as well as the impact of thousands of federal law enforcement agents conducting immigration actions.
Monday’s breakfast included a theme of making “a career of humanity,” a reference to a 1959 speech by King which called on others to commit themselves to fighting for equal rights.
‘It’s the work of bringing change, which is never easy’
Soledad O’Brien, journalist and documentarian and keynote speaker at the breakfast, said Minneapolis is on frontpages of newspapers across the world. She acknowledged that Minnesotans “must be exhausted.”
“But every civil rights leader that I have ever interviewed talked about that moment when they, too, lost hope,” O’Brien said. “And when they thought maybe it was too hard or not worth it. And what brought them back to hope was their religious faith, number one. Also, the faith that personal sacrifice could lead to a collective community strength. And, number three, to be hopeful you had to do hopeful things. You had to serve your community. Just sitting around and trying to feel hopeful was not going to work … It’s the work of bringing change, which is never easy.”
Gov. Tim Walz, in a video interview aired during the Ordway event, said bridging divisions is especially important right now.
“Dr. King often times talked about that sitting down, hearing people, of course, peaceful resistance, but saying, ‘Look, these things that we’re doing are not right. People are being left out. We’re discriminating against people. But here’s what we can do to make it better,’” Walz said. “And I think right now the challenge is that we talk past each other. It doesn’t mean you have to agree on everything, but I think hearing people out – and in a time where there are those that are trying to divide us on purpose.”
In attendance at the breakfast were members of the Hortmans’ family. Hortman, who was assassinated in June along with her husband Mark. Melissa Hortman was honored at the event for her service and advocacy for the state.
‘We do not accept racism’
Speakers at both events also acknowledged the challenging times that Minnesotans have faced as thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal agents have entered the state, leading to daily protests and the shooting death of Good in Minneapolis.
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, president emeritus of The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, spoke of his experience in jail in Alabama when he
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was 12 years old for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. The death of Good reminded Hrabowski of the Baptist Street Church Bombing, which killed four Black girls in 1963, he said. Those girls were called names, “as they’re calling the name Renee Good right now,” he said. Hrabowski encouraged people not to buy into violence.
“But keep letting people know we do not accept evil. We do not accept evil. No, we do not. We do not accept lies…We do not accept racism. As a country, we are better than this. We are better than this. We believe in the goodness of humanity,” Hrabowski said.
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