\n
Martin Luther King Jr Day was marked with parades and services across the US on Monday. But the celebration for the achievements of the slain 60s civil rights leader was tempered by contemporary anxieties over racial and social equality and Trump administration\u2019s crackdown in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
At a rally in Harlem, the Rev Al Sharpton referred to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother of three who was killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she cursed them out does that give them the right to shoot her?\u201d he asked. \u201cNow they\u2019re talking about sending in the national guards, sending in more ICE agents. We are in a state that Dr King would have been fighting against this country going this far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharpton called for a broad sense of unity, saying that \u201cif people are on our side, we can disagree without being disagreeable because we have folks that are adversarial to the interests of our community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make a pledge on King Day that we gonna\u2019 fight and make what should happen happen to preserve the dream of Dr King,\u201d he added.<\/p>\nThe Rev Al Sharpton speaks during commemoration of MLK Day at the National Action Network in New York City, on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Eduardo Mu\u00f1oz\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nZohran Mamdani, the newly-installed New York City mayor, framed inequality as an economic issue at the Brooklyn Academy of Music\u2019s annual MLK Day celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the city is wealthy beyond measure, it is also deeply unequal,\u201d he said. \u201cSome New Yorkers sleep in penthouses. Others sleep on the sidewalk below.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot only speak of Dr King\u2019s legacy as if it is a legacy of rights that can be given to people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt must also be a legacy of rights that those people can exercise themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Washington, hundreds of people marched along Martin Luther King Jr Avenue to honor the civil rights leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to continue to do this because not just of Dr King, but of what he stood for,\u201d said Sam Ford, a retired broadcaster and member of the Martin Luther King Jr Day Parade Committee. \u201cThe struggle continues.\u201d<\/p>\nPeople listen to speakers at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Brendan Smialowski\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nParade participant Harold Hunter echoed that sentiment. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a white thing or Black thing. This is a people thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wisdom Cole, NAACP senior national director of advocacy, said elevated fears within racially diverse and immigrant communities meant that King Day observances were forced to take a more urgent tone. \u201cWe are faced with increased police and state violence inflicted by the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Movement for Black Lives said it had planned events in Atlanta, Chicago, Oakland and other cities under the banner \u201cReclaim MLK Day of Action\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year it is more important than ever to reclaim MLK\u2019s radical legacy, letting his wisdom and fierce commitment to freedom move us into the action necessary to take care of one another, fight back, and free ourselves from this fascist regime,\u201d Devonte Jackson, a national organizing director for the coalition, said in a statement.<\/p>\nThe Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day Parade in Los Angeles.<\/span> Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt the National Civil Rights museum in Memphis, Tennessee, located on the site of the former Lorraine Motel, where King was shot on 4 April 1968, was opened and offering free admission, an annual tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis milestone year is not only about looking back at what Dr King stood for, but also recognizing the people who continue to make his ideals real today,\u201d museum president Russell Wigginton told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
But some typical MLK Day events were cancelled, including a dinner at Indiana University in Indianapolis. In a social media post, the schools\u2019 Black Student Union said the event was officially cancelled because of \u201cbudget constraints\u201d, but the group expressed concern that the cancellation was \u201cconnected to broader political pressures\u201d.<\/p>\nYoung men and women carry a banner in support of Martin Luther King Day in downtown St Petersburg, Florida. <\/span> Photograph: Zoraida Diaz\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA church in Westbrook, Maine, cancelled an MLK Day service due to \u201cunforeseen circumstances\u201d, according to the parish website. A member of the congregation\u2019s \u201csocial justice and peace committee\u201d told the local news site NewsCenterMaine.com that the service was cancelled because agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were in the area.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Dr King celebration comes exactly a year since Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s inauguration ushered in an administration opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, whether in government agencies, schools, universities or cultural institutions.<\/p>\n
The justice department\u2019s civil rights division, which under previous administration\u2019s has been charged with rooting out discrimination against minority groups, has shifted focus.<\/p>\n
In comments to the New York Times this month, Trump said civil rights protections and affirmative action programs had hurt white people. \u201cWhite people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university or a college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the administration has launched aggressive anti-immigration operations in several Democratic-led cities.<\/p>\nPro-BLM and anti-ICE rhetoric written on the window of a car at an ICE protest and celebration of MLK day, in St Paul, Minnesota, on Monday. <\/span> Photograph: Angelina Katsanis\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMaya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation\u2019s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, told the Associated Press that the Trump administration\u2019s priorities make clear it is actively trying to erase the movement for social justice.<\/p>\n
Citing healthcare access, affordable housing, good paying jobs and union representation, Wiley said, \u201cthings Dr King made part of his clarion call for a beloved community are still at stake and is even more so because (the administration) has dismantled the very terms of government and the norms of our culture\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last month, the National Park Service said it will no longer offer free admission to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but would instead offer free admission on Flag Day \u2013 14 June. That day is also Trump\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n
At Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr King preached, there were calls on Monday to unite against injustice. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Ebenezer\u2019s senior pastor, said the administration is \u201ctrying to weaponize despair and convince us that we are at war with one another\u201d.<\/p>\nSenator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) speaks at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday.<\/span> Photograph: Paras Griffin\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWarnock later posted online<\/a>: \u201cYou cannot remember Dr King and dismember his legacy at the same time.\u201d He called for a re-commitment to Dr King\u2019s legacy<\/a>: \u201cIn these dark and difficult days, Dr King\u2019s memory continues to light a path for our nation toward an abiding peace and a just democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n#struggle #continues #MLK #Day #celebrated #tense #political #climate #Martin #Luther #King<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Martin Luther King Jr Day was … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}