Communities across the nation celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday with acts of service, prayer services, and parades. But with the November presidential election as a backdrop, some events took on a political turn. In King's hometown of Atlanta, several speakers at the 56th annual commemorative service at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King served as pastor, touched on the nation's divisive partisan climate, the AP reports. Former US Republican Rep. Liz Cheney had harsh words for Trump, whom she did not mention by name. "A former president refuses to acknowledge that he lost, and he has convinced millions that our elections and our democracy no longer work," she said. "He threatens the foundations of our nation and everything Dr. King persevered to save."
US Sen. Raphael Warnock, longtime senior pastor of Ebenezer, told the audience, "You better stand up and vote!" to rousing applause. "If your vote didn't count, why are folks trying so hard to keep you from voting? Stand and use your voice. Stand up and use your vote. Speak up!" Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights leader, warned that "our humanity is literally under attack." But she noted that her father's legacy of nonviolence taught that "we can defeat injustice, ignorance and hold people accountable at the same time without seeking to destroy, diminish, demean or cancel them."
Speaking at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia, Vice President Kamala Harris said young people two or three generations removed from King have seen their freedoms shrink—citing laws restricting voting and abortion as well as the ever-present threat of gun violence, especially in schools. Harris urged young people to regain those rights through voting and action. In Philadelphia, President Biden marked the day by volunteering at Philabundance, a nonprofit food bank. He stuffed donation boxes with apples and struck up chatter with workers at the organization, where he volunteered for the third time as president or president-elect to mark the January day of service, per the AP.
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A dangerously cold winter storm limited some planned activities. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis announced that it would be closed on Monday because of icy roads but would still hold a virtual celebration of King. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border also closed, canceling a campground cleanup event. Observed federally since 1986, the holiday occurs on the third Monday of January, which this year happens to be King's actual birthday. The slain civil rights leader would have been 95 on Monday. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act and King's Nobel Peace Prize.
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