ST PAUL, Minn. — With the recent conviction and sentencing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd and the death of America's first Black movie star, Sidney Poitier, this year's MLK Day will come as many Minnesotans and Americans grapple with the fight for the racial equality.
During KARE11 Saturday, Dr. Yohuru Williams, the founding director of the Racial Justice Initiative and Distinguished Chair and Professor of History at the University of St. Thomas, shared his perspective on the importance of this year's MLK Day, which is on Jan. 17.
Dr. Williams discussed why MLK Day is even more noteworthy this year, the progress towards racial justice and what Minnesotans should stop and think about this year.
“You know the United States is in an interesting place right now, we have a lot of work to do and a long way to go before we have dealt with, in a substantive way, these issues of racial inequality in housing, education and health care, and certainly in policing,” Dr. Williams previously told KARE11.
Since 2006, Dr. Williams has published three books, two of which on civil rights. Most recently, he wrote 'Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement' on the fight for Black civil rights in the grander context of American history, from the Reconstruction Era to modern times.
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