STATEMENT FROM 35TH DISTRICT CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE LAURIE CUMBO Reflects on 50th Anniversary of March on Washington

STATEMENT FROM 35TH DISTRICT CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE LAURIE CUMBO

Reflects on 50th Anniversary of March on Washington

“It is incredible that half a century has passed since the historic moment when Dr. Martin Luther King inspired a nation to begin a movement toward racial equality,” Laurie Cumbo, candidate for the 35th District City Council said. “This is a time to celebrate, but we must also recognize just how fragile the progress we have as a society can be. I live in a City where police officers practice rampant racial discrimination in their use of stop-and-frisk, which disproportionately targets Black and Latino residents. I live in a country where the Supreme Court struck down a key measure of the seminal Voting Rights Act and placed unclear restrictions on affirmative action. While there are many reasons to be optimistic and hopeful about the future, these regressions remind us that progress is not timeless, and historic achievements can evaporate in an instant. I want New Yorkers to celebrate this anniversary and the accomplishments we have made as a society. However, I do not want this occasion to lull us into complacency. We must come together as one Brooklyn, one New York, one United States and take actions in our daily lives that further the goals that Dr. King set out to achieve 50 years ago on that fateful day.”

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