{"id":76308,"date":"2025-01-20T12:35:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T17:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=76308"},"modified":"2025-08-11T10:15:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T14:15:43","slug":"dr-martin-luther-king-jr-and-love-as-a-bold-and-intentional-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-and-love-as-a-bold-and-intentional-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Love as a Bold and Intentional Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is perhaps our most quoted – and least heard – historical figure. But the way forward in another Trump era requires real listening and real care, this op-ed states. (Credit: Wikimeda Commons<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s become a modern American tradition: Posting the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. online to mark the holiday bearing his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every January, people take to social media and share quotes of King\u2019s, often pulling from the famous \u201cI Have a Dream<\/a>\u201d speech in which he shares his vision of a United States where people are judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservatives are particularly keen on sharing these words<\/a> \u2013 and pairing them with messages that call for peace they don\u2019t believe in<\/a>, and equity they actively work against<\/a>, with power gained by stepping on marginalized people<\/a> like King himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who in 2023<\/a> borrowed from King to defend President Donald Trump from impeachment. \u201cI\u2019m asking my colleagues to remember the words of the legendary \u2026 [King], who once said the time is always right to do what is right,\u201d Mace said. This is the same Mace who drafted legislation<\/a> such as the \u201cPreventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act,\u201d and who waged a political war<\/a> against Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware because she is openly transgender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The convicted felon she invoked King\u2019s words and legacy to defend, meanwhile, gets sworn in today as our 47th president \u2013 on the very day designated for honoring King\u2019s legacy, no less. By his side will be Vice President JD Vance<\/a>, who marked the holiday just two years ago with the following words<\/a>: \u201cToday \u2026 we remember the lessons and values [King] contributed to our nation: Love for our neighbors and the equality of all mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Vance and Trump are poised to act upon their actual values and dreams for America, by way of an alarming, regressive agenda<\/a> that will further infringe upon our rights \u2013 an agenda that flies in the face of everything King stood for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what are we going to do about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Appalling Silence\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There is another work of King\u2019s, \u201cLetter from a Birmingham Jail<\/a>,\u201d which is shared less often but that speaks far more directly to who and where we are as a nation. It is not designed to lift us up \u2013 rather, it is justifiably raw, and bone-deep angry, and brilliantly, rightly takes our most complicit citizens (white moderates in particular) to task for their feckless non-behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will have to repent \u2026 not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, we have collectively become, as a brilliant friend put it recently, all too accepting of the supposedly unacceptable \u2013 and we\u2019ve lost so much because of it. The diversity, equity and inclusion programs that gave marginalized individuals needed legs up at work are being phased out<\/a>. Trans individuals are being legislated out of everything from sports<\/a> to vital care<\/a>. Immigrant families live in fear<\/a> following promises of mass deportations. We are sicker because of food regulation rollbacks<\/a> and conservative-backed culture wars over vaccines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n \"Afghan-Women-Taliban-Rules-Singing\"\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Why We Must Shout \u2013 and Sing \u2013 Against Oppressors\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

We are less connected<\/a> to one another, and less kind and safe because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worse, there is an ever-increasing willingness to kowtow to Trump among those seeking to secure spots in the new order \u2013 rapper Snoop Dogg<\/a> performed at his inauguration party despite speaking out against him in the past; social media service TikTok\u2019s official messages to users, following its recent ban<\/a> in the U.S., heralded Trump<\/a> as a savior. There are myriad other examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like King, we have dreams, for ourselves and our children. But like King, we need to be willing to fight for them. As he put it<\/a>: “We must learn that \u2026 to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Shine On<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is not too late to be a light in this darkness. Writer Octavia Butler<\/a> offered this bit of wisdom in the face of similarly daunting odds, which we recently referenced in response to the wildfires burning through Los Angeles<\/a>: \u201c[T]here\u2019s no single answer that will solve all of our \u2026 problems. There\u2019s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers \u2013 at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we must choose to be. We must be truth tellers, volunteers, routine recyclers, abortion escorts, sanctuary churches, inclusive workspaces, arrested protesters, picket line respecters, boycott upholders, givers when possible, proud voters, jurors who respect their civic duty, bystanders who don\u2019t just stand by. We must be the ones oppressors deem \u201crude\u201d or \u201cdangerous,\u201d in hopes of silencing us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must be what this sick, tired world<\/a> needs: The light and love King spoke of, that can drive out the darkness and hate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must not stop at merely invoking his words \u2013 we must live them. ◼️<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n \"The\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n Why We Need to Focus on Black Women\u2019s Startup Stories\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump’s inauguration marks the dawn of a troubling era. We must have our own dreams now, of how we become fighters in creating the world King envisioned, Candice Helfand-Rogers writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":76309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is perhaps our most quoted - and least heard - historical figure. 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