Crow Marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Denver’s Annual Marade
DENVER — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06) marked this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day by participating in the Denver Marade, an annual march and protest honoring the memory of Dr. King, and by continuing King’s legacy of service making meals in Aurora for Coloradans in need.
At the Marade, Crow spoke alongside fellow elected officials; former Mayor Wellington Webb and the Honorable Wilma Webb; Vern Howard, Chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission; Pastor Odie Kennedy, President of the Greater Metropolitan Denver Ministerial Alliance; and others. This year marked Denver’s 40th annual Marade.
See below for a full transcript of Crow’s remarks at the Marade.
Later in the day, Crow joined volunteers at the Mile High Commissary to make meals for Coloradans in need.
In his remarks at the Marade, Crow said:
“Dr. King was a man of faith, and he pulled and often talked about this idea of servant leadership that was discussed by Jesus in the book of Matthew, where he said that if you want to lead, you must first be a servant of people.
“It's rooted and grounded in service and servant leadership. That was the foundation of Dr. King. That was the foundation of all great leaders, in fact.
“Service and servant leadership, though, requires courage, and courage requires the willingness to make sacrifices and to put your own good aside for the good of others.
“We are in a moment that requires tremendous sacrifice, if you want to lead, because we are surrounded by a lot of cowardice. That is the truth.
“We are seeing so much cowardice. Law firms bending the knee. Universities capitulating. CEOs kissing the ring. Over and over again, people cowing, bowing, prostrating themselves to the altar of Donald Trump.
“But when this moment is written in history, it will not be their story—because great moments and great times are never the story of cowards. It is always the story of the heroes.
“It's the story of people like Yeoman Wilder—a Little League coach in Harlem—because when Coach Wilder was sitting there teaching his little league baseball players, ICE agents descended on that field and started to harass and intimidate his kids. Yeoman put himself in between the kids and those agents, and he said, ‘No, these are my kids. This is my field. Leave.’ He later said he'd be willing to sacrifice himself, his freedom, and his life if it came down to it.
“It's the story of the millions of Americans stepping up, the protests, the No Kings rallies, the story of people videoing and filming and documenting the abuses of federal agents and the abuses of this Administration. Because accountability will eventually require that documentation.
“People need to know that when they cow and they bow and they prostrate themselves and they turn their back on the law and the Constitution that we will remember. We are taking names. There will be accountability.
“So this is our moment. Fear is contagious. Donald Trump knows that. But so is courage. Courage is contagious. And if we are willing to sacrifice and to serve and to put ourselves into the fire, people will follow.
“Donald Trump thinks he can threaten and intimidate me. He thinks he can send the FBI after me and the DOJ after me. Well, he's chosen the wrong person. If he thinks that I will be threatened and intimidated and others like me will be threatened and intimidated, he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Bring it on.
“I'm willing to sacrifice everything I have for this country. I have seen my friends and fellow Americans give their life for this country. I will not back down.
“I spent the formative periods of my life as a young man as a paratrooper. Paratroopers, first of all, are the most comfortable and at ease surrounded and behind enemy lines. But there's a tradition in paratroopers that when you're in the plane, the leader of the unit jumps first. And then the others follow—because courage is contagious.
“Dr. King knew that. He lived by it. This is our moment. I'm all in. The Webbs are all in. You're all in. It's time to get this done.”
###