In UFW march, MLK’s son likens farmworkers’ plight ‘almost as equivalent’ to slavery
Human rights activist Martin Luther King III, oldest child of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, delivered rousing comments Saturday in Manteca to participants and supporters of the United Farm Workers’ March for the Governor’s Signature.
“It shouldn’t just be you walking, it should be many of us walking,” said the 64-year-old, who joined marchers for several miles Saturday morning following the rally. He said the march can show the nation “the unfairness of what it is to have someone working so many hours, almost as equivalent to what slavery was.”
The 335-day march began Aug. 3 in Delano and made stops in Stanislaus County last week. It is scheduled to reach Sacramento on Aug. 26 and culminated with a rally at the Capitol.
The marchers’ aim is to get Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2183. It would amend the California Labor Code to allow farmworkers to vote by mail or by dropping off their ballots at designated locations. Currently, union elections must take place under a supervised process at a physical location, often the workplace.
King told listeners that the United States of America “certainly is not united at this moment. But when we come together, the true strength is realized and true change occurs.”
Referencing his father’s “I Have a Dream” speech, King said, “We can realize the dream. What I know is it takes just a few good women and men to bring about change. All of the victories that my father and his team had, and my mother later on, those victories did not just happen automatically. It was because women and men and others came together and change occurred.
“And it was dark, it was very dark at a certain point, but it’s darkest before dawn comes. And at that darkest moment, change occurred.
He urged the crowd not to tire in its efforts. “Because we all have come much too far from where we started. No one ever told any of us that our road would be easy. But I know our God has not brought us this to leave us.”
King’s remarks were followed by great applause and a chant of the UFW motto, “Si se puede,” Spanish for “Yes, we can.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 11:06 AM.
