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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2021)
January 13, 2021 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 17 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Events Love cont’d from pg 14 cont’d from pg 11 “I’m so proud that this year marks WNYC’s 15th anniversary of bringing New Yorkers vital con- versations about race and justice on Dr. King’s birthday,” said Brenda Williams-Butts, Senior Vice President, Diver- sity, Equity & Inclusion at New York Public Ra- dio and Co-Founder of WNYC’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. event. “We founded this event to provide a place to cel- ebrate his life, but also discuss the serious work still at hand. Fifteen years later — as a new administration, whose victory owes much to Black voters, prepares to take control in the wake of a far-right insurrec- tion on the Capitol — ‘the fierce urgency of now’ has taken on even more profound resonance.” “We’re excited to part- ner with the Apollo to bring our annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. event to the national airwaves at a moment when we so deeply need to channel his legacy, leadership, and lessons,” said Goli Sheikholesla- mi, President and CEO, New York Public Radio. “WNYC’s mission is to convene conversation and community around the critical issues of the day, and we’re honored to bring our listeners the voices of so many respected leaders and changemakers at this in- flection point in Ameri- ca’s democracy.” “I’m thrilled that we are continuing our part- nership with WNYC to bring people together to hear from some of to- day’s most poignant lead- ers, activists, journalists, and scholars reflecting on Dr. King’s legacy and the urgent need to con- tinue to fight for safety, dignity, and justice,” said Jonelle Procope, Apollo Theater President and CEO. “The Apollo has long been committed to supporting Black voices and creating spaces for artists and audiences to express themselves free- ly, and the annual MLK Celebration has been one of the hallmarks of our programming.” Presented in collabora- tion with the March on Washington Film Festi- val. Impeachment cont’d from pg 12 “The president not only incited an insurrection against our government – but has in word and in deed led a rebellion,” Congresswoman Omar declared on the House floor. “We cannot simply move past this or turn the page for us to be able to survive as a function- ing democracy.” Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.) also railed against the Pro-Trump insurrectionists as “ter- rorists radicalized by Donald Trump.” “We were attacked by terrorists, but this time the terrorists were radi- calized right here in the United States,” Congress- woman Chu said. “Worse, they were rad- icalized by the President, who intentionally lied to his supporters that the election was stolen, and then told them when to come to D.C., where to protest and who to direct their anger at. “The need to remove Trump from office could not be more urgent. He is too dangerous to re- main in office. Donald Trump must be held ac- countable. He must be impeached.” In the impeachment legislation, Congress members wrote that the “President demonstrated that he would remain a threat to national secu- rity, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.” Further, the resolution states, “President Trump warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualifica- tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the Unit- ed States.” Specifically, the resolu- tion identifies Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call to Geor- gia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urg- ing him to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s election results. “We cannot allow this unprecedented provoca- tion to go unanswered,” House members said in a statement. “Everyone involved in this assault must be held accountable, beginning with the man most re- sponsible for it – Presi- dent Donald Trump. We cannot begin to heal the soul of this country with- out first delivering swift justice to all its enemies — foreign and domestic.” ment we are to carry on in the Southland.” It was a love that de- manded that one stand up for oneself and tells those who oppress that what they were doing was wrong. Why this matters now In the face of vio- lence directed at mi- nority communities and of deepening po- litical divisions in the country, King’s words and philosophy are per- haps more critical for us today than at any point in the recent past. As King noted, all per- sons exist in an inter- related community and all are dependent on each other. By connect- ing love to community, King argued there were opportunities to build a more just and economi- cally sustainable society which respected differ- ence. As he said, “Agape is a willing- ness to go to any length to restore community… Therefore if I respond to hate with a reciprocal hate I do nothing but in- tensify the cleavages of a broken community.” King outlined a vision in which we are com- pelled to work toward making our communities inclusive. They reflect the broad values of equality and democracy. Through an engagement with one another as its foundation, agape provides oppor- tunities to work toward common goals. Building a community today At a time when the nation feels so divided, there is a need to bring back King’s vision of agape-fueled community building and begin a dif- ficult conversation about where we are as a nation and where we want to go. It would move us past simply seeing the other side as being wholly mo- tivated by hate. Engaging in a conver- sation through agape signals a willingness to restore broken commu- nities and to approach difference with an open mind.
