As the Martin Luther King Jr Day was celebrated across the country, Indian American lawmakers praised the contributions of the civil rights leader and shared their experiences of drawing inspiration from him.
“Dr. King has been a central inspiration throughout my life. His work helped make possible my path, from a 16-year-old immigrant girl who came here by herself to serving as the first Indian-American woman in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Prmila Jayapal.
“Dr. King’s gift was in his unique ability to bring truth, compassion, and justice together for a better future and to remind us of how much we share even across our differences,” the Washington Democrat added.
Dr. King has been a central inspiration throughout my life. His work helped make possible my path, from a 16-year-old immigrant girl who came here by herself to serving as the first Indian-American woman in the House of Representatives. pic.twitter.com/KzLFQpCQUk #MLKDay
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 15, 2018
Sen. Kamala Harris, who is part African American, in a series of tweets, reiterated the need for the causes for which Dr. King stood for.
“On #MLKDay, we must recommit ourselves to fighting for the causes that defined his life and work — including voting rights, police and community relations, our criminal justice system, and economic opportunity,” Harris tweeted.
“Dr. King’s fight is about understanding we are all equal and saying that we will always fight for that beautiful premise. He understood that a beloved community was a diverse community of equal people, of equal stature, that deserved and required equal dignity,” she noted in another Tweet.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-CA, shared a photo of his grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, who spent four years in jail alongside Gandhi, on Twitter while remembering Dr. King.
“Dr. King provided a moral vision for our nation and world. On this day, I always remember my grandfather, Amarnath Vidyalankar, who spent four years in jail alongside Gandhi. That movement helped inspire King’s call for nonviolence,” Khanna Tweeted.
Dr. King was influenced by Gandhi’s movement which my grandfather participated in. I have always been moved by these words. #MLKDay pic.twitter.com/2Aa0PcypSP
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) January 15, 2018
Rep. Ami Bera, D-CA, who represents California’s 7th congressional district, urged everyone to “come together to form a more perfect union in a National Day of Service.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL, said: “Dr. King dedicated his life for justice and equality and he died for it.”
“But, even with this ideals, Dr. King would have never had the impact he did if it weren’t for his willingness to dedicate his life to service,” he added.
“Dr. King has inspired people of different generations, and communities of different backgrounds to organize to move towards a better world and certainly Dr. King’s ties to the API community went deep,” said California Assemblyman Ash Kalra.
“In these times, where hope is so essential to progress, we are truly grateful, beyond measure, to Dr. King for his lifetime commitment and dedication to justice and equality,” added Kalra.