The Iowa Democratic Party Black Caucus hosted an event Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s reception of the Nobel Peace Prize.
On Oct. 14, 1964, King was given the Nobel Peace Prize “for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population,” according to the Nobel Prize’s website. Saturday’s event also celebrated his civil rights and social justice legacy.
The Democrats held the event to acknowledge King’s work in light of news that both parties’ Iowa Caucus will be held on Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The event featured an interactive panel that included state Reps. Ako Abdul-Samad and Mary Madison, the Rev. Rob Johnson, and Tiara Mays-Sims, a board member of Heartland Area Education Agency. Al Womble, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Black Caucus, spoke before the panel opened to questions.
“We’d like for people to take away the fact that it’s time to change the game,” Abdul-Samad said. “We can’t be scared that we need to talk about human and civil rights. We can’t be scared to talk about revolution. We can’t be scared to delineate between non violence, struggle and movement.”
Originally scheduled to be held at the State Capitol, the event was moved to the AFL-CIO headquarters following a non-credible bomb threat to the Capitol building made on social media.
More: State police investigated social media threat to Iowa Capitol on Saturday
“You aren’t just doing this because you like to do it. You’re doing it because you’re called to it,” Johnson said. “… There is a resurgence of your strength, that even when you are tired, and there’s a bomb threat at the Capitol, you make your way to a building tucked behind another building to stand in saying, ‘This is why we are supporting why MLK won the Nobel Peace Prize in the first place.'”
A majority of the questions and discussion pertained to activism, and how to better effectuate and measure change.
“Martin Luther King Jr. ultimately realized that his leadership — his vision of using non-violent resistance to accomplish the goals of the Civil Rights Movement — all meant nothing without the support of the community,” Womble said.
Abdul-Samad said one of they keys to change is having tough conversations. He added that though conversation should remain respectful, non-violent activists need to learn how to non-violently slap the opposition.
“Revolution is never comfortable — it’s very uncomfortable — but it doesn’t have to be a violent physical revolution, because we first have to have a revolution of the mind and the heart,” Abdul-Samad said. “If you start there, then you begin to make changes, then you begin changing the game.”
Biong M. Biong is an intern at the Register. Reach him at bbiong@dmreg.com.
