I think we have got to do a better job explaining to people why their vote does count. I think people feel disconnected from some of their elected officials, as well as the system, because, sometimes, it is very complicated.

One of the things my dad and mom worked on throughout their lives was the eradication of poverty.

Anyway, in 1966, Daddy had started to attack Lyndon Johnson on the war in Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson was a good man. Even though he was a Southern conservative, Lyndon Johnson passed more civil-rights legislation than any other president in history.

Our family has always drawn on the power from above to comfort us in times of despair and stress.

There are people of conscience all over the world, famous leaders, as well as unsung heroes and 'sheroes,' who are carrying forward the nonviolent movement for freedom and human rights.

Many people of color live on the front lines of environmental hazard and harm.

On March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights activists marched in Selma, Alabama, demanding an end to racial discrimination. The demonstration was led by now-Rep. John Lewis and Hosea Williams, who worked with my father, Martin Luther King Jr.

I'm proud of my father, but my pride cannot be fully measured by that snapshot in history. Because contrary to first glance, my father's legacy comes not from his presiding over the final act in the drama of fighting for equal rights - his legacy is about setting the stage.

Now, that doesn't mean that individuals can't have Confederate flags on their property. They have the right to do that. But again, it represents something that is not unifying.

In terms of election issues, the urgent challenges we face include securing reforms to de-escalate the nuclear arms race, end voter suppression, improve health care for all Americans and alleviate the climate crisis.

I was told that Daddy was murdered by a white man. I could have adopted an attitude of hating whites. But then in 1974 my grandmother was killed by a black man, so I could have hated blacks too.

The seminal right of the modern civil rights movement was the right to vote. My father fought so diligently for it. Certainly Congressman John Lewis and many others, Hosea Williams, fought for it as well.

I am humbled, gratified and overjoyed at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in commemoration of my father's leadership. It of course means a lot to our family. But more important, it is a great step forward for America.

Because when we look at the modern civil rights movement under the leadership of my father and the team that he developed, it was at the federal level that we were able to appeal to bring about justice, whether it was in relationship to voting rights - just a number of issues.

President Obama certainly has an impressive gift for eloquence, and he has a global vision, as did my father. He doesn't rattle easy, and he doesn't harbor animosity, which were also characteristics my father had. But my father's arena was far broader than politics.

Reforms are needed to stem the tide of outsourcing good jobs to other nations and to educate and train American workers to meet the challenges of the 21st-century world economy.

It's clear to me that millions of young people understand and value my father's legacy of social change through nonviolence.

The appalling racial injustice inherent in the Trayvon Martin tragedy reminds us that there is still much to do.

I don't know that endorsement's important, so I'm not necessarily here to endorse, but what I will say is, if I was a Canadian resident, I would support my friend and his party, Justin Trudeau.

The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will undoubtedly leave millions of Americans dissatisfied about the outcome, conviction or not. What must not happen, however, is millions of Americans feeling that the process itself violated the letter and spirit of our Constitution.

Individuals cannot be free if there are impediments to reaching their full potential as human beings.

I'm sure my father would applaud the explosion of youth activism that has emerged in response to the gun violence pandemic. I'm certain my parents would agree it is gratifying to see young people leading social change projects in a multiracial coalition.

I began to understand that not only was there was a social justice agenda, there was a policy agenda. For every justice campaign there was a policy initiative associated with it.

Martin Luther King Jr. would say love not hate would make America great.