Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday he will forge ahead with the annual Martin Luther King breakfast on Friday, even though there could be a ton of empty tables.
Accusing Emanuel of participating in the very code of silence he has condemned, religious leaders plan to boycott and picket the event and urge black elected officials to join them.
“The Martin Luther King mayoral breakfast is not about me. It’s about Dr. King and his life that he led and his life’s work. And we have a lot of work ahead of us — not only as a city, a state and a country — being consistent with his life’s work of economic and social justice,” the mayor told reporters after a City Council meeting.
“It started under Mayor Harold Washington. Every mayor has held it. And I’m going to continue to hold it as I have in the past and in the years ahead in this term. It is a time in which the city, regardless of our differences, comes together to honor Dr. King, honor his life, honor the message of his life and use that to re-energize ourselves towards economic and social justice.”
The mayor added, “Obviously, certain people will take certain actions. I know what we, as a city, should do in using this moment in time and work very hard towards that effort. . . . I’m going to continue to stay determined, driven with the desire to get change, make the necessary decisions to push the city forward.”
Pastor Ira Acree said he has no interest in providing “political cover” for the mayor when he is firmly convinced that Emanuel “concealed” both the Laquan McDonald shooting video and the contract kickback scandal that culminated in the guilty plea by former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett until after the mayoral runoff election April 7.
“CPD scandals continue to unfold every day, and our community is incredulous at the role the mayor of our city played,” Acree told a news conference before the City Council meeting Wednesday.
“I will not be attending Mayor Emanuel’s MLK breakfast because if Dr. King was alive, he would not be welcome, nor would he attend. Considering the conspiracy, considering the concealment of evidence, considering the cover-up and toxicity of the corruption of this mayor’s administration, it would be a shame for us as ministers to be there and provide for Mayor Emanuel the political cover that he would desire.”
Source: Chicago Sun Times | FRAN SPIELMAN
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