Including the recent executive order to remove Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth from the National Park System, there has been a clear effort to minimize observances related to Black history and racial equity.
This year marks the 12th Annual Reclaim MLK March and Week of Action, a movement beginning in 2014 by the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) spotlighting Martin Luther King Jr.'s more radical ideas and preaching related to on anti-racism, state violence, and economic justice. In observing this federal holiday, it is important to acknowledge discrepancies between the sanitized, mainstream portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. and his more reformist revolutionary legacy, as it helps deepen our understanding of how the ills of the past connect to those of the present.
- Many famous statements that were made by Martin Luther King Jr. are often cut short to erase their deeper messaging. For instance, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." continues with "...but if a man does not have a job or income, he has neither life, nor liberty, nor the possibility of the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists."
- Other statements that have been made by Martin Luther King Jr. are outright obscured from history because of their radical messaging, calling out America's status quo, "Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor both black and white, both here and abroad.”
The Center for Political Education hosts a study guide for reclaiming Martin Luther King Jr.'s radical legacy with the goal "to build toward a collective understanding of Martin Luther King, Jr. as leader whose ideas and political organizing on issues of white supremacy, political power, capitalism, and US imperialism cumulatively and increasingly called for a radical restructuring of the economic and social systems in the US."
How do you observe Martin Luther King Day? What steps would you like to take to honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement long after the holiday is over?
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Kayla Anderson
Veterinary Social Worker
Program for Pet Health Equity
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