MLK

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929.

I’ll repost (for obvious reasons) a sentence that I posted in 2020 and 2025. From Why We Can’t Wait (1964):

Perhaps the most determining factor in the role of the federal government is the tone set by the Chief Executive in his words and actions.

And I’ll add a passage from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963):

You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and “preventing violence.” I don’t believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don’t believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys, if you would observe them, as they did on two occasions, refusing to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I’m sorry that I can’t join you in your praise for the police department.

And now it’s not a city force but a federal one, ICE, terrorizing protestors and anyone who doesn’t look like a so-called “heritage American.” And now it’s not the city jail; it’s internment camps and foreign prisons. What would Martin Luther King Jr. say about our country in 2026?

Related reading
All OCA MLK posts (Pinboard)