Jan 15, 2022 - Politics & Policy
King family leads Arizona rally to mobilize support for voting rights bills
Martin Luther King III addresses a "Let's Finish the Job for the People" rally near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 14, 2021. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Family members of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. honored his birthday Saturday with a rally in Arizona to mobilize support for voting rights legislation.
Driving the news: The rally comes days after Martin Luther King III admonished Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Thursday, saying history will remember her "unkindly" for voicing her opposition to abolishing the filibuster to pass major voting rights bills.
- Former President Trump is also holding a rally on Saturday in Arizona with a list of speakers who led efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
State of play: King's wife, Arndrea Waters King, and their daughter, Yolanda Renee King, also took part in a rally Saturday campaigning for voting rights in Phoenix.
- The family joined the predominantly Black Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church for the demonstration and chanted "no celebration without legislation."
- Arizona is one of 19 states that enacted voting restrictions in 2021.
- Family members of MLK also plan to lead a march on MLK Day in D.C. to urge the Senate and President Biden to enact federal voting rights legislation.