Former President Barack Obama honored the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., on the 50th anniversary of his assassination Wednesday, saying it was important to remember that progress doesn't come without "setbacks and defeats" and "for every two steps forward, we often take a step back."
Obama recorded a video message for a ceremony in Memphis, Tennesseen, where King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, praising King's vision and imagination as a basis for the country's racial progress.
"New doors of opportunity swung open for each new generation. Just look around," Obama said. "We can see with our own eyes that America is freer and fairer and more just than it was in Dr. King's time."
He said it was appropriate to savor progress already made but added a cautionary note.
"We're right to remember that such progress didn't come easily, that for every victory there were setbacks and defeats, that for every two steps forward, we often take a step back," Obama said. "There's hope to be found, though, in the longer story that is America, a story defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all of us and not just some."
Obama has been largely out of the public eye since President Donald Trump took office, occasionally voicing opinions and making appearances criticizing his successor's policies.
He added the country now should draw strength from earlier struggles and hold fast to the belief that "we, the people, hold the power to continually remake this nation to more closely align with our highest ideals."
"We can't be trapped or discouraged by what is. We've got to keep pushing for what ought to be," he said. "An economy that works for all our people, a government that lives up to our highest ideals, an America worthy of our children's expectations."