Maine State Prison Branch of the NAACP

Statement from the Maine State Prison Branch of the NAACP:

FREEDOM AND EQUALITY HAVE NO BORDERS!

We are pleased to be able to join you in the celebrating the NAACP’s 40th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance!

On the 28th of January 2020,our country was infiltrated by a silent enemy. One of the most dangerous and deadliest enemy we have ever battled-the Coronavirus. The 45th President of the United States told the Nation that this silent enemy was not dangerous nor deadly, and it would disappear by the summer. Before the 4th of July, this silent enemy had killed 128,000 plus Americans and amassed more than 2.7 million COVID-19 cases in our country.

In the mist of this deadly pandemic, a new generation of American "Freedom Fighters" emerged to fight an enemy we all know intimately-systematic racism.

Collectively, tens of millions of people from around the world left the sanctuary of their homes and took to the streets to march and protest the unjust killings of unarmed Black men and women by white police officers, despite the fact, an invisible enemy was (and still is) lurking in the air to snatch their life away.

Tens of millions of strangers worldwide gathered to put their lives in danger to shout NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE for Black life. It was the most phenomenal and majestic moment that we will have witnessed in our life time.

Seeing tens of millions of young Black folks and White folks march side-by-side, united to fight systematic racism, discrimination, injustice and inequality was like watching the Marching Band on Thanksgiving Day.

Hearing the sounds of NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE vibrating through the TV felt like being at a Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross duet concert.

Dr. King once said "We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism are tied together...you can't really get rid of one without getting rid of the others...the whole structure of American life must be changed. America is a hypocritical nation and [we] must put [our] own house in order."

This new generation of American "Freedom Fighters" brought their discontentment and condemnation of America's injustice, unequal treatment, and disenfranchisement of Black folk to the ballot box on November 3, 2020 to denounce systematic racism, white supremacy, white nationalism and to remove a demagogue and fascist President named Donald J. Trump.

In this new year, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday has taken on a deeper meaning for many. Why? Because the challenges Dr. King helped tackle not only exist today but have heighten the current day social media to be more prevalent. Our society has advanced in many ways (technologically, financially, scientifically to name a few), however, in the most basic and primitive concepts of humanity, equal treatment and justice, our society has unequivocally failed drastically; as evidenced by false claims of voter fraud and the insurrection on our nation's Capitol.

Dr. King said, "Justice too long delayed, is justice denied."

Dr. King's persuasive techniques are continually used today to call for unity as a state, as a country to become ONE!! Enough is enough! Dr. King's speech, "I have a Dream" discusses the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that overt white supremacist have violated the dream and that "our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice."

Dr. King's dream is becoming a reality for all. The 44th President of the United States of America, the great Baraka Obama is proof.

As of Wednesday, January 20, 2021, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be proof. Justice will be served and our state, our country will become ONE.

Dr. King's letter from the Birmingham jail is a clear illustration of our struggle and fight. He wrote "perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the sting dart of segregation to say "wait". "Perhaps it is easy for those" who are not being gunned down and choked to death by white police officers who took a sworn oath and accepted a duty to protect ALL American citizens to say police reform, criminal justice reform, and prison reform can "wait".

To those people we say the "wait" is over, the time is now.

"No life can matter until Black Lives Matter."

In solidarity,

Maine State Prison Branch of the NAACP