This year we celebrate MLK day with a renewed fervor. We see in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., someone that inspired an entire nation to reconsider its actions, and to make positive changes in the face of impossible odds. The words of Dr. King still echo powerfully today in my home here in Durham, and are resonating with millions across the country. In 2017 we saw the inauguration of an administration that does not share these values of mutual love, and equality for all. For the last year we have dealt with quotes, and legislation aimed at driving wedges between us, and disenfranchising minority groups. It began with attacks on Muslims, and immigrants, than the attack waged on the sick and poor, then we saw a Twitter storm against transgender people. We have seen the Attorney General remove LGBT protections for schools, and workplaces. Now, daily we worry about nuclear threats like it is the Cold War era reborn. And most recently we have endured a man who has called nations “sh**tholes” because of the ethnicity of the citizens, and who asked how Welfare was not only for African Americans. President Trump and his administration continue daily to issue out propaganda, and divisions. They encourage a base that is bent on removing equality from the public sector. As such, many of us have spent countless days and hours fighting back. Now, let us renew our hearts and spirits by reflecting on the words of Dr. King.
Today as I remember Dr. King I remember these words first,
"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
In 2018 we are called to act, that much we continue from the last year, but instead of fractured groups we must realize as one we are all facing injustice. The cause of the members of the LGBT community, is tied also to the movement of BLM, and BLM is tied to fighting the same racist mindset that impacts the Dreamers, and the immigrant. Injustice is injustice. It comes for all who are not holding seats of power. But from the work of Dr. King we know that we can join together. Dr. King Jr. spoke and worked for equality on all fronts, he was a civil rights advocate, a pay equality advocate, and a staunch opponent of the war in Vietnam. Remember, those powerful words of his, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As humans we all are imbued with dignity, and the right to respect, love, and equality. When even one of us faces an unjust system we all face an unjust system. It is the duty of us all to look out for each other, to speak up, to march, to call politicians, and vote with conviction. Last year we saw innocent people line up to be arrested for toppling a statue, we saw others volunteer to register as Muslim if a registry was created, we saw a powerful march of united women that included trans-women as well. We are moving forward, and these united protests and goals will see our voices heard, and will see change happen.
So as we take this day to remember the legacy of Dr. King let us also remember that we are mutually tied together. Our fight for equality is tied to alleviating the injustice that someone else faces as much as it is about gaining our own equality. This will happen when we take the time to listen to one another again. Instead of being bonded to our single cause, we must see what each other face. We can not have ego-centric equality, that is the lesson in the legacy of Dr. King. He reached all people, and advocated for all people. Injustice destroys the dignity of the oppressed and the oppressor. The oppressor becomes the evil, and the oppressed becomes the discarded. Removing injustice is redemptive for both parties. One sees the error of their ways, and the other is fully restored. If we seek to understand and emulate Martin Luther King Jr., our best bet is to work with one another. Resistance is tied to a share goal of justice for all, as Dr. King said in St. Louis in 1964, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” I believe we can learn to live together in a love for our shared human dignity. I have seen the beginnings of this in Durham, and know across this nation many of us are working to embrace this. On Martin Luther King Day 2018 remember there are more of us devoted to the cause of equality than against it, and we will see justice roll like a mighty river in this nation once again.