| | | | | |  | | By Brakkton Booker | With help from Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz | 
POLITICO Illustration/Photo by AP | What up Recast family! The Biden administration officially enters its second year, congressional Democrats slim down ambitious agenda items in hopes of getting them passed and tensions intensify between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine. We kick things off with the family of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. It's been a frustrating time for voting rights activists, culminating with this week's showdown over the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. While the outcome was by no means a surprise, that didn't lessen the sting for those pushing for the opposite outcome. Perhaps no family felt this more acutely than the scions of Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy was used as a cudgel to implore folks to change their minds. Martin Luther King III and his family have been on a blitz over the past month, holding rallies, meeting with senators and pressuring the Biden administration to talk more forcefully about voting rights. This as many red-leaning states are enacting laws critics say will suppress the vote, particularly among marginalized groups. "If we would not have brought this much attention to this issue, then I believe that the president would not have been speaking out about this and talking about this," said Yolanda King, the granddaughter of the civil rights icon. At 13, she's already a veteran of the modern civil rights movement. During the March for Our Lives rally in 2018, she gave a speech decrying the prevalence of guns in the U.S. I chop it up with the father-daughter duo about the latest voting rights setback and whether politicians — Democrats and Republicans alike — have co-opted their family's legacy for political gain. ⧫⧫⧫ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. THE RECAST: After crisscrossing the country for much of the previous week, and over the weekend, traveling to Arizona, coming to Washington, D.C., how are you feeling about the push to get voting rights legislation passed only to come up short? YOLANDA: I think that this all builds on to each other. |  | While [Biden] does not have a specific plan, it is progress that he is talking about the issue and acknowledging it. Because a few weeks ago, it wasn't really even on his radar. So I think it's so important that you have to also acknowledge that while we did not fulfill the goal this time … there needs to be further action taken, more strategizing and plans that build on to this. MARTIN: Let me characterize it this way: While we were certainly disappointed, and it was a setback, we know that this is not necessarily a sprint, particularly as it relates to getting rid of or modifying the filibuster. My dad and his team were told — I don't know how many times — that the fight was over [when they tried to get the Voting Rights Act enacted]. But they kept pushing until the legislation was passed. We have to think about the fact that we assembled over 195 partner organizations on the King Day holiday, all of the major labor unions, over 1,000 ministers. And 48 senators. For the first time, we're on the record about filibuster reform. It was two short of what was needed, certainly. But I mean, I think that's huge. So there's a new discussion about filibuster reform, which I think is very good.
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THE RECAST: It leads to another question that came up during the president's one-year anniversary press conference. He was reminded about his comments during his presidential acceptance speech . He said, "The African American community stood up again for me. You've always had my back and I'll have yours."
It was the activists of color, Black activists, Latino activists that had to pull Biden in the direction to even verbalize his stance on voting rights. Do feel like he's abandoned Black voters who were pivotal in getting him into office a little more than a year ago? | 
In January 2019, former Vice President Joe Biden greets Martin Luther King III and his daughter, Yolanda Renee King, during the National Action Network Breakfast. | Al Drago/Getty Images | MARTIN: We saw what happened when he galvanized the power of his office to get infrastructure done, which is good. [It's] going to, you know, create jobs and opportunities, not just for the Black and brown community. He has got to deliver on voting rights. There are other things, but I want to stay focused now on voting rights. And, you know, sometimes you have to always continue to push, even those who have good intentions. But again, this issue had been talked about, but it really hadn't been focused on. Think about this: We started this campaign 30 days ago. So that's why I feel very good about it, knowing it was gonna be like pushing a rock up a hill, I still feel like we made great strides and we just are not done yet. THE RECAST: Say what they will about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, but he kept his GOP caucus aligned — no one broke. But the president could not keep all members of his party unified. Do you feel like this is an indictment on President Biden's leadership? MARTIN: I believe history is going to look at Sen. Sinema and Sen. Manchin. A president has a lot of power… but at the end of the day, you can't make anybody do anything that they don't want to do. I don't care who it is. Yes, you could say that Sen. McConnell has kept his caucus together. That is a fact. But I think that is part of the problem with the Democratic Party … in my judgment, [is it] does not seem to know how to get in line. | 
| And this is not to disparage and criticize every Democratic member, but there are problems in terms of the Democratic Party when it comes to total unification. And they've demonstrated that in my judgment over and over again. We have to learn from my Republican colleagues. Sen. Sinema and Sen. Manchin claim they supported the right to vote, but they didn't have a pathway to get there. So you really are not supporting. It's a lie. And again, as I said, history is gonna judge them very unfavorably, particularly if we're not able to get something else done. | 
Martin Luther King III, his wife Andrea Waters King and their daughter Yolanda Renee King visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in January 2020 in Washington, DC. | Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images | THE RECAST: Let me direct this next question to Yolanda. I think many people first came to know about you when you spoke at the March for Our Lives Rally in 2018 to push for changes on federal gun laws. We've seen you again rally during the summer of 2020, pushing for police reform. And we've seen you out with your family pushing for voting rights and ending the filibuster. These are three monumental issues that did not get across the finish line. Being 13 and witnessing some of these setbacks, what goes through your mind about that and how do you keep pushing forward? YOLANDA: You have to learn how to be strong. When there's action taken, historically, there's always been some sort of pushback. When people came out to vote during the [2020 presidential] election, the majority of the Republican Party seemed to not like the results of that. Therefore, [several GOP-led states enacted] these restrictive voter suppression laws, because they were not happy with the result of the election. | 
Martin Luther King III introduces his daughter Yolanda Renee King to speak during the March on Washington in August 2020. | Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP | And I think an important lesson for all activists, a lesson that I sometimes still have to learn, is perseverance. Yes I've had moments of frustration, moments of disappointment, moments where I've lost hope. But then you have to find a way to bounce back. And for me, that's usually looking at some of my grandfather's work and studying him. It's so amazing, because his speeches will have the answer to something that I was questioning, or challenging. Or just [seeing] some of his quotes and looking at a strategy that really gives me inspiration and really helps me maintain perseverance. THE RECAST: With the federal Martin Luther King holiday this past Monday, we saw everyone from every political stripe recognize Dr. King for how great he was for the country. Some cherry-pick a few lines from speeches to signal that they have some kind of lineage or allegiance to him. What do you make of both political parties leaning on your grandfather's legacy in that way? YOLANDA: I think it's important to definitely acknowledge his work. And I think a lot of those politicians … like many, are just doing it out of making themselves look good, it seems. Some may genuinely understand, but it seems like the majority of them, if I'm honest, seem like they are doing it more to endorse themselves and show that, 'Look, I support and follow Dr. King's methods.' But if they really did, then we would be at a different point today. It seems like idolizing him, in their minds, is like an exit ticket from them not being able to get [anything] done, 'Well, I idolized him, what else do you want me to do?' I think both parties kind of do that. | 
Martin Luther King, III stands next to his daughter Yolanda Renee King as she speaks on the same spot her grandfather the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. | Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP | And so our message this year specifically was "no celebration without legislation." I believe that even Kyrsten Sinema tweeted about him … but yet she refuses to support this [changing Senate rules to pass] the voting rights bill. We're going backwards. And what they're doing is undoing all his work. Like I would want someone to explain, how can you support him, but yet you won't get this passed like this? There's a lot of question marks. THE RECAST: Martin, I'll let this be the last question. Look, Democrats knew that this vote was going to go down in defeat, right? They originally scheduled it to take place on the Martin Luther King holiday before delaying it. Do you feel like your father's legacy has been kind of taken over, co-opted, by politics and by politicians? MARTIN: I think it's our responsibility to help interpret what the legacy is. What politicians do is they take and extract words. Historically, what has happened in this nation is people are consistently inconsistent. You say one thing, but you do another and you get away with it. | 
Martin Luther King III, accompanied by his daughter Yolanda Renee King and his wife Andrea Waters King, speaks on Monday about Congress' failure to pass voting rights legislation. | AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana | If you really support Martin Luther King, Jr, you understand that getting the right to vote was a fundamental, foundational issue, not just for dad, but for all Americans. And yet, this issue has been crafted as if it's just a Black and brown issue. It disproportionately impacts the Black and brown community. But it hurts everybody when you make it harder for people to vote, instead of making it easy. We know what happens when you create the opportunity for people to participate at a maximum. But we also understand what happens when you suppress and reengage in Jim Crow, which is what the majority of the Senate chose to do. It's unconscionable… But we're not going to give up. We're not going to give out. We're not going to give in. We're going to keep moving forward. ⧫⧫⧫ Alrighty fam, I hope the week wasn't too draining for you. We have some quick pop news items for you as well as some pick-me-ups for our Weekend To-Dos. The Omicron variant is dashing the political honeymoons of many newly sworn-in mayors, POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky reports. One mayor told her: "We stepped into a crisis on day one." And, bluntly speaking, newly announced Senate candidate in Louisiana, Gary Chambers, set the social media ablaze this week with his campaign ad that sparked lots of chatter. (Yep, we're all about the puns.) He chopped it up with POLITICO's federal cannabis policy reporter Natalie Fertig.
Video: Q&A with Louisiana Senate candidate Gary Chambers
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| Meet Nusrat Choudhury, a Biden nominee, who, if confirmed, would be the first Muslim American woman to serve on the federal bench. And check out this Rolling Stone profile of Puerto Rican reggaeton star Rauw Alejandro. "Flee," a new documentary by Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, tells the story of a gay Afghan refugee, all in stunning animation. Andre Leon Talley was a towering giant—literally—of the fashion world. But living in that world as a 6-foot-6-plus, gay, French-speaking Black man from Jim Crow-era North Carolina was often … fraught. Even a "friend" casually hurled the "n-word" at him. This 1994 profile of Talley is a must-read. In Ava DuVernay 's new TV series, "Naomi," a skateboarding, teenage Black nerd comes of age—with superpowers. This week, NPR Tiny Desk teams up with GlobalFest for a virtual concert hosted by the queen of global pop, Grammy-winning Angélique Kidjo, with performances by Finland's Suistamon Sähkö; the Lebanese-Syrian gropu Bedouin Burger and Korea's ADG7. | 
| TikTok of the Day: The pressure of being the oldest daughter, featuring. Encanto. | 
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