It was standing room only at historically black Pain College. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, pushed a universal health care system that includes people suffering from mental illness and addiction. Kennedy compared Dr. King’s struggle for racial equality with the right of every U.S. citizen to health care.

"Do you want your child’s health care, your mother’s health care, to be dependent on the vagaries of our capitalist system? Or do you think that because each of us is equally important that each of us deserves to get that medical care, that life-saving care that we need at our hour of need," Kennedy said.

Kennedy is a recovering alcoholic. He has been a vocal supporter of health care reform and the nation’s mental health system.

Tags: All Things Considered, Martin Luther King Jr., Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Paine College