Metropolitan King County Council Chair Larry Phillips today joined county employees and the public in celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., America’s foremost civil-rights leader.

The focus of King County’s 28th Annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration at the Paramount Theatre was the 50th anniversary of the Landmark Voting Rights Act. In remarks at the event, Phillips discussed the work done by Dr. King as well as many other Americans to help achieve voter equality for African Americans.

“Today we celebrated the remarkable accomplishments not only of Dr. King, but of the men and women of all ages, races and religions who joined him in ensuring that African Americans — and all Americans — had full and free access to the ballot box throughout our country,” said Phillips.

Phillips introduced the keynote speaker of the celebration, Maria Gitin, author of the book, “This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the Voting Rights Fight,” a memoir of the work done by young students like Gitin and the residents of Wilcox County, Ala., who helped register African Americans to vote.

“It’s stunning to think of the extraordinary lengths that governments on a local, state and federal level went to in order to prevent the most basic expression of being part of a Democratic society — the ability to vote. And it’s sad to realize that within two generations of this landmark achievement, there are now efforts to return a number of Americans back to second-class status by erecting barriers that prevent them from voting,” said Phillips. “The sentiments expressed by Dr. King that are the theme of this year’s celebration — on not being able to live as a Democratic citizen if denied the right to vote — ring as true now as they did 50 years ago.”