Today we honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK Day commemorations launch a momentous week in U.S. history. On Tuesday, the 5th annual National Day of Racial Healing seeks to unite our communities and recognize our shared humanity. And Wednesday marks the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and the start of a new legislative era.

As we appreciate the challenges of this moment—an ongoing pandemic, heightened racial tension and violence in our nation's capital, and uncertainty during our transition of national leadership—we recall Dr. Martin Luther King's words in the text, Where Do We Go From Here?:

In choosing community, we pay homage to Dr. King's remarkable contributions to civil rights and a more just society:

the leadership of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955—a citywide protest which led to the changing of laws that prohibited Blacks from sitting in the front seats;
prolific writings on the need for social justice, including the noted "L et ter from Birmingham Jail";
the organizing of the 1963 March on Washington for equal rights and fair wages, which—remembered for King's "I Have a Dream Speech"—drew over 200,000 demonstrators and pressured President Lyndon B. Johnson to advocate for civil rights laws.

During the civil rights movement, Dr. King witnessed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned employment discrimination; the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed racial discrimination in voting; and the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Services Act targeting discrimination of immigrants from non-European countries.

Just before his assassination in April 1968 at the young age of 39, Dr. King gave one last speech at the Memphis Sanitation Worker Strike. The protest gained national attention and compelled the city of Memphis to grant workers higher wages, union rights, and anti-discrimination policies. Part of King's call for a "revolution of values" in America, the strike and the Poor People's Campaign demanded economic justice for all citizens living below the poverty line. The multiracial, nonviolent coalition embodied King's vision for a diverse citizenry mobilizing for the equality of all, moving towards a hopeful future.

We continue this struggle today.

Dr. King's words encourage us to respond to the "urgency of now" with as much courage, hope, and passion as we can muster. We are called to create community instead of chaos, to champion equality and justice instead of oppression and strife. Through our protest, community-building, and service, King's example of persistent advocacy lives on in us.

Yours in solidarity,

Dan Day, President

Josie Gonsalves, Executive Director

Cassandra Etienne, Editor

This e-letter was sent to CivicStory subscribers on January 18, 2021

On MLK Day, choose to build community