Honor M.L. King; Fight for Democracy

Martin Luther King Jr. Day arrives this year amid a deliberate effort to rewrite American history and a wholesale assault on civil rights in America. It has been one year since Donald Trump was inaugurated on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It felt cruel and grotesque that a man who represents so much of what Dr. King stood against could rise to power on a day meant to honor the struggle for racial justice and democracy. Over the last year, we have seen a devastating, sustained attack on nearly every facet of the civil rights architecture in America. We have seen the gutting of civil rights enforcement; high-profile purges of Black federal employees and a drive to functionally resegregate the federal workforce; the rewriting of history in official documents and even in Smithsonian museums; and vicious attacks on Black refugees from Haiti, Somalia, and other African countries.  As I write this email, we are awaiting a Supreme Court decision that could potentially gut the final remaining provisions of the Voting Rights Act -- part of an overarching campaign to suppress Black voters and Black political power across the country. It is important to name what we are facing. This is a dedicated, organized campaign to eradicate civil rights, erase history, and enshrine white supremacy as a central governing principle. While the scale and speed of the onslaught are immense, the project itself is not new. Today’s MAGA movement is the modern heir to the racial authoritarian regime that has shaped American governance since the nation’s founding. When we look for inspiration and lessons, we often turn to struggles for democracy abroad. But the truth is that the United States has been engaged in an unfinished fight for democracy for most of its history. In a very real sense, this country did not begin to function as a democracy until civil rights organizers created the conditions for the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. That is why the first, and most important, lessons for today’s fight for democracy come from the civil rights movement here at home. In fact, many of the international movements we cite for inspiration trace their own lineage back to Dr. King and the Birmingham Bus Boycott, the Freedom Riders, and the Selma march. From successful economic campaigns like the Birmingham Bus Boycott, to the disciplined use of nonviolence, to the strategic leveraging of repression so that state violence backfired, to mass mobilization and noncooperation -- so many of the tactics and strategies we talk about today were forged by leaders like Dr. King, John Lewis, Ella Baker, Diane Nash, and countless unnamed organizers who refused to accept injustice as inevitable. The fight for racial justice in America has always been the fight for democracy in America; it’s crucial that we recognize them as inseparable. And as we honor Dr. King and his legacy, we do so not by sanitizing or reducing it, but by recognizing the fullness of his vision -- for racial justice, economic justice, and ending war and imperialism. So on this MLK Day, we ask you to do more than post a quote or take the day off. We ask you to learn and reflect on the legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights movement, and to recommit to the fight for a just, inclusive, and equitable democracy. We ask you to support organizations leading the fight today, such as our friends at the Transformative Justice Coalition and Black Voters Matter Fund, who are each organizing to protect and advance Black political power and voting rights in this crucial moment. And we ask you to commit to sustained, collective action in the months and years ahead. The arc of the moral universe does not bend on its own. It bends because people organize, resist, and refuse to comply with injustice -- again and again, even when the path is hard. Honoring Dr. King today means continuing that work. In solidarity, Leah Greenberg Co-Executive Director, Indivisible View video; MLK> https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/19/mlk_day_special_dr_martin_luther

 

MLK and the Authoritarian State

 

Dr King and Our Authoritarian Crisis

Only when we refuse to accept the mythology around King and the Movement can we comprehend the legacy entrusted to us

WILLIAM J. BARBER, II AND JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE JAN 18

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At memorial celebrations across the nation this weekend, Americans will cross arms, grasp hands, and sing, “We Shall Overcome.” Many will bow their heads in prayer for our country. Some – and more than many of us care to admit – will look down to consider a question that has haunted them since last Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which coincided with the inauguration of Donald Trump. 

Can America survive four years of authoritarian captivity?

Some of our fellow Americans spent the past year trying to dismiss this nagging question with the hope that things wouldn’t be as bad as it seemed they could be. But their hopes have been dashed. The White House is waging a propaganda campaign that openly lies about things everyone can see. Congress has funded a paramilitary force to occupy US cities and enforce the regime’s version of reality. Anyone who objects has been labeled a “domestic terrorist” and shown that they will be attacked, fired, defunded, arrested, or killed if they do not get out of the way. 

America has descended into a full-blown authoritarian crisis faster than almost anyone expected.

Still, millions of people have resisted – not just at mass protests in the streets, but by telling the truth as journalists, standing for the rule of law as lawyers and jurists, refusing to bow to the regime as universities and corporations, refusing to obey unlawful orders, and practicing hope as people of faith and conscience. 

We are in the midst of an authoritarian crisis and a majority of Americans are still resisting.

But for those who have not bowed, the question is often more pointed. We gather this weekend to remember Dr. King and the movement standing against authoritarians like Bull Conner, Jim Clark, and George Wallace in the South. As America marks its 250th anniversary, we recall the founders who reused to bow to a king. We remember the Union holding off the insurrection of the Confederates when, as Lincoln said, a great civil war tested whether this nation, “or any nation so conceived, can long endure.” 

But can America survive authoritarianism when it has the power of the federal government?

This is the unuttered question that many Americans who have not bowed to Trump bring with them to this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We know because this is the question people on the front lines have whispered to us in quiet moments over the past year. We know because we’ve had to wrestle with this question ourselves.

It is an important question because, when we face it honestly, it can pierce through the mythology that keeps us from receiving the tradition that made Dr. King and offers us a way out of the authoritarian crisis we face.

We deceive ourselves if we believe King was able to face down Southern racism because he had the full support of the federal government. The fact that we are living in a national security state that has labeled people who resist authoritarian extremism “domestic terrorists” can help us understand the context Dr. King was born into almost a century ago. Most people know Dr. King was surveilled by the FBI at the end of his life, but in his new book Martyrs to the Unspeakable, James W. Douglass reveals that King’s family and community were marked as a threat to national security a dozen years before Martin was born.

MARCH ON WASHINGTON D.C. FOR GAZA Cornel West

Sacramento: MLK March

 

 

Sacramento: The 42^nd Annual “March for the Dream" Walk will take place on MLK Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 15. Registration is free—no charge to participate! Free transportation back to City College is available if you cannot walk the entire route. Visit the MLK Walk website to learn more and register. 

California Poor People's Campaign.,

Upcoming meetings

We’re going to Sacramento! Mobilization meeting  Saturday Jan. 20, 12pm | RSVP SEIU 721 building (1545 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles) Los Angeles is getting organized to go to Sacramento on March 2 as part of a national day of action that will take place in 30 states. We are calling for all hands on deck to organize this effort collectively—help with outreach, transportation, media and more is needed. Our March 2 actions will call politicians to account for allowing policies of violence to continue. We will demand they stop making concessions for the wealthy while leaving families and children to die in poverty.   Lunch and English/Spanish interpretation will be provided. Don’t forget to fill out this formand let us know you’ll be there.   Statewide organizing meetings Wednesdays, 6:30pm | RSVP Help us organize for the March 2 rally in Sacramento and other 2024 efforts. You’ll meet activists from around the state and take part in mobilizing our communities for these historic actions. It’s a place to lend a hand and to learn from one another. Drop in any Wednesday.

MLK. There Is Nothing New About Poverty

 

“There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we now have the resources to get rid of it…Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the scientific know‐how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life?…There is no deficit in human resources, the deficit is in human will…The time has come for an all‐out world war against poverty.”

– “Where Do We Go from Here?” 1967

 

MLK: Saving the Soul of America

 MLK: Saving the Soul of America

JANUARY 16, 2023 BY MAURICE ISSERMAN

 

 

 

On Martin Luther King Day, leftists remember that his heart was with democratic socialists, mainstream writers talk about his dream and today’s realities, and rightwingers contort themselves to claim something of his legacy. Even if you;re a person who knows nothing about King, you’ve probably heard about his “I have a dream” speech and may even have read it or listened to it in school. Chances are that you’re less familiar with another speech, the one that, as Maurice Isserman asserts, “changed the conversation,” about the war in Vietnam and in doing so helped change the mind of an entire country. Delivered from the pulpit at the Riverside Church in Manhattan a year before he was assassinated, this sermon helped turn the tide of public opinion. As we honor King’s life, let’s remember the power of moral witness. Below is Isserman’s column from the Democratic Left series on events that changed our national conversation.–Eds.

Fifty years ago, on April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered an impassioned speech at the Riverside Church in Manhattan. In eloquence and power, it matched the one he gave at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. Unlike that earlier (and better remembered) effort, his topic was not civil rights but the war in Vietnam, an ever-escalating conflict that had killed nearly 20,000 American servicemen since 1963, along with hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, North and South, military and civilian.

https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/mlk-saving-the-soul-of-america/

 

With video. 

We thank Democratic Left for this post and link.

About Maurice Isserman

Maurice Isserman, a founding member of DSA, a member of North Star, and is the author of The Other American: The Life of Michael Harrington, and the foreword to the 50th Anniversary edition of The Other America.

 

Break the Silence - MLK

 Breaking the Silence: An Intergenerational Call for Unity and Action

 

April 4, 2022, is the 54th anniversary of Rev. Dr. King’s assassination, and the 55th anniversary of his historic "A Time to Break Silence" speech delivered at Riverside Church in New York City. Register to join this national webinar on Monday, April 4th at 7:15pm ET, which will include a pre-recorded reading of the speech and a live panel discussion with well-known activists hosted by a broad coalition of civil and human rights, peace, and justice organizations.

“The ‘MLK 50th Anniversary’ celebration is a historical milestone that commemorates not only Dr. King's speech on campus but his vision for greater equality and justice for all,” Watson-Derbigny says. “For these reasons, we celebrate as a reminder to live out his dream daily by educating students for leadership, success, and service, and working to build vibrant communities that embody diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

"The significance of Dr. King's visit to Sacramento State is that it coincided with a shift in the political climate in the nation and a resultant change in the focus of the movement," says Robin Carter, MLK celebration co-chair. "He spent the last year of his life articulating a shift from civil rights to human rights. His speech on our campus highlighted his advocacy for this shift." - Dixie Reid

MLK 50^th Anniversary Celebration at Sac State, Monday, Oct. 16

Everything, other than the fundraiser brunch, is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for both the 4:15 p.m. gospel concert and 7:30 p.m. keynote address. To RSVP for events you wish to attend and to download free tickets, go to Sac State's MLK celebration page.

·       9:30 to 10:45 a.m., University Union, Redwood Room – Brunch to benefit student scholarships features motivational speaker Inky Johnson. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online.

·       11 to 11:50 a.m. University Union, Hinde Auditorium – The March (1964), 33-minute documentary about the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King spoke. Roberto Pomo, professor of theater, will introduce Richard Blue, brother of the late filmmaker, James Blue.

·       Noon to 12:45 p.m., University Union Ballroom – Keynote speaker Tavis Smiley discusses “Empathy and Economic Inequality.” The PBS talk-show host is the author of Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Final Year (no ticket required).

·       12:45 p.m., University Union – Unity march to Hornet Stadium.

·       1:10 p.m., Broad Field House lawn – Dedication of the Tree of Empathy commemorating King’s 1967 visit.

·       2:15 to 3 p.m., University Union, Redwood Room – “The Civil Rights Movement,” panel discussion featuring Clayborne Carson, professor of history at Stanford University and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. The moderator is J. Luke Wood, a professor at San Diego State and a Sac State alumnus.

·       3:15 to 4 p.m., University Union, various locations – Student workshops.

·       4:15 to 5 p.m., University Union, Lobby Suite – Student docents lead tours of the exhibit “Fifty Years Ago Today at Sacramento State: The Future of the Civil Rights Movement.” The exhibit is open for self-tours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

·       4:15 to 5 p.m. University Union Ballroom – “Empathy, Empowerment, and Praise,” gospel concert featuring the MLK Community Choir and JJ Hairston. Ticketed event. RSVP required.

·       7:30 p.m., University Union Ballroom – Smiley delivers the keynote address, “The Death of a King: A Life of Empathy that Created a Movement.” Ticketed event. RSVP required.