Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her final speech as head of the Justice Department, said worries of difficult days ahead should be a call for action, not despair.
Lynch spoke at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church where four girls were killed in a KKK bombing in 1963. In the speech for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lynch echoed King's words after the bombing to not give into despair.
Lynch praised the work of President Obama's administration to achieve justice for all citizens.
The speech came five days before Lynch leaves office with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Lynch did not mention Trump by name, but said has heard people's anxieties about the future.
"We are Americans and we have always pushed forward," Lynch said.