Reno Reporter

Amid last week's honors and remembrances of the famous orator, Nobel Peace Prize winner and civil rights leader, Nevada's governor and an Assembly member tried to find deeper meaning in his life.  

"In honor of #MLKDay, Assemblywoman & Leader of the @NVBLC @Daniele4NV & I are paying homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy and working together to push forward in Nevada," Gov. Steve Sisolak tweeted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Assemblywoman and Nevada Black Legislative Caucus Chair Daniele Monroe-Morena | daniele4nevada.com

Sisolak and Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Morena recalled King as "a master in prose" who "didn't mince words." The man with "an uncanny ability to cut straight to the heart of the matter with thought-provoking statements" is the person so widely honored and remembered today, the two said in an op-ed published Jan. 16 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"In this moment, there's one question that comes to mind: 'Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?"'" the op-ed asked.

King's legacy and issues of his day remain very much in ours, including "social unrest and continued threats to our democracy and our way of life," the op-ed said.

"In Nevada, we are fighting back on both fronts," the op-ed continued. "At a time when state legislatures across the country are attempting to roll back access to the polls, Nevada continues to push forward with proven strategies that make voting more accessible and secure. Voting is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in our democracy, and new laws that we enacted together last year will ensure that our democratic process remains in place."

Sisolak and Monroe-Moreno, who chairs the Nevada Black Legislative Caucus, are Democrats.

Born in Atlanta in 1929, King was the son of a Baptist preacher and he received a doctorate degree in theology before 1955, when he organized the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. King's policy of nonviolent resistance was influenced by Mohandas Gandhi, who used the same strategy a generation before in an ultimately successful campaign to win India's independence from British rule.

King many times used his skills as a talented orator, including one of his most famous speeches, now best know as his "I Have a Dream" speech, he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963. In that speech, King famously announced, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

In 1964, when King was 35, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement. He remains the youngest man to have ever received the award and was the youngest person until girls rights and education advocate Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel peace laurel at 17.

King donated his Nobel prize money, more than $50,000, to further civil rights advancement.

In April of 1968, King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers when he was assassinated while standing on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was 39.

Two pieces of federal legislation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, are part of King's legacy. Both resonated today in a nation filled with unrest and efforts to deny the franchise, Sisolak and Monroe-Morena said in their op-ed. The two said they've seen "the gaping cracks in our society" that are "painful, but they can be healed."

They called on others to "not be afraid to speak truth to power and to build in solidarity toward a more just society" that embraces cultural differences and creates a space for "an honest dialogue."

"This is not something that can be done alone," Sisolak and Monroe-Moreno's op-ed concluded. "It's going to take all of us working together with you — to heal, to bring justice, to make Nevada a warm and welcoming place for all. Please know you have that commitment from us to be leaders and partners in this work."