I just released an op-ed in the "Washington Post" that talks about providing an I.D. so that everyone can have an I.D., primarily, the social security card, a picture would be put on that card, and a president can certainly by executive order make this happen so that people will not need a special I.D. They`ll have one to vote.
I need to hear something about how he`s going to bring people together in the spirit, hopefully, of Martin Luther King Jr., and if that`s not heard, then we`ve got to constantly challenge him.
We`re going to continue to move forward and fight. I just think that, unfortunately, the president-elect [Donald Trump] has chosen to address every issue.
A war of words escalated between the president-elect and a civil rights icon. Donald Trump fired back at democratic Congressman John Lewis after Lewis said he did not see Trump as a legitimate president.
So we want to make sure that happens is that we build a relationship with the police department and the community that results in better policing and better cooperation with the community.
The promise of America is one immigration policy for all who seek to enter our shores, whether they come from Mexico, Haiti or Canada, there must be one set of rules for everybody. We cannot welcome those to come and then try and act as though any culture will not be respected or treated inferior. We cannot look at the Latino community and preach 'one language.' No one gave them an English test before they sent them to Iraq to fight for America.
Senator [Jeff] Sessions says people, cities sign these decrees because they don`t want to be sued by the justice department, as if he is, in some ways, questioning whether the things that are in these decrees are necessary and warranted.
As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways. Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable.
I was raised by a single mother who made a way for me. She used to scrub floors as a domestic worker, put a cleaning rag in her pocketbook and ride the subways in Brooklyn so I would have food on the table. But she taught me as I walked her to the subway that life is about not where you start, but where you're going. That's family values.
The Baltimore Police Department had engaged in a pattern of practice of conduct that violated the constitution and federal law, and this conduct had eroded trust and to deprive the people of Baltimore of the rights and the protections guaranteed to every American.
I feel that it is our moral obligation to stand and to be courageous with these families, and particularly Cindy, that have become the conscience of this nation.