On MLK Day, Trone Hosts Conversation with Civil Rights Legend Willie Pearl Mackey King and Community Leader Nahom Tekle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov
On MLK Day, Trone Hosts Conversation with Civil Rights Legend Willie Pearl Mackey King and Community Leader Nahom Tekle
WASHINGTON — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) hosted a conversation with Willie Pearl Mackey King, former secretary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference who transcribed King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and community leader Nahom Tekle, Executive Director of the BROTHERS Academy in Gaithersburg, Md. The three discussed Dr. King’s legacy and the ongoing fight for racial justice.
You can watch the conversation here.
“We can draw a straight line from slavery, to Jim Crow, to mass incarceration. That’s why it’s important that we recognize how far we’ve come in the fight for justice and understand what work we still have to do,” said Congressman Trone. “It was an honor to reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy with Mrs. Mackey-King and Mr. Tekle and get their perspective on how the government and our communities can come together to create a more just and equitable society.”
In the conversation, the group discussed their experiences combating racial injustice in their lives, evaluated the systemic barriers that negatively impact communities of color, and expressed their shared belief that conversations about racial justice are how progress is made.
In the summer of 2020, Trone wrote about some of the difficult conversations he had with community leaders and constituents following the murder of George Floyd. He reflected on the lessons he learned from these conversations and pledged to use his platform to uplift the voices and experiences of those who don’t have the same platform.
Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Appropriations Committee in the 117th Congress and previously served on the Education and Labor, Foreign Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees. In Congress, Trone is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.
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