‘Whenever it’s darkest, look to the stars’: Martin Luther King III keeps the pressure on for voting rights

Martin Luther King III: ‘I’m not willing to concede. It’s because people keep pushing and rising up that changes do occur.’ Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

As the US approaches the annual holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr, the family of the late civil rights leader is urging Americans to hold off on celebrations. Instead, they’re urging Americans protest and to demand the Senate pass sweeping voting rights legislation.

But the prospects for such an effort, for now, seem bleak. On Thursday, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, two Democrats who staunchly support the filibuster, said they would not back an effort to change the rules to advance voting rights legislation. Because no Republicans support the changes, that effectively kills any chance of passing voting rights legislation.