John xxxxxx,
Today is Martin Luthing King Jr. Day, a time we set aside to honor Dr. King’s fight for civil rights and work to eradicate poverty in the United States. I ran for public office to provide for the poor and fight for liberty and justice for all, so I cherish this day as a time for reflection and service to my community.
Dr. King peacefully but boldly took on the challenges stemming from decades of oppression, and worked tirelessly for racial justice in all facets of society: voting rights, economic equality and opportunity, affordable housing, public education, our criminal justice system and so much more.
Though we have made great strides since Dr. King spoke of his dream — a nation free of injustice, where all are truly created and treated equal — events over the course of this past year have proven that we still have a long way to go. There is still much more work to do.
Look to the Black Lives Matter movement over the summer of 2020. George Floyd’s name was added to the long, ever-growing list of Black Americans killed by police — and the people said “enough.” Millions of Americans marched in the streets, held moving vigils, and raised their voices to say Black Lives Matter. They demanded justice be served, that those responsible be held accountable, and that reforms be made to our criminal justice system so that we stop this deadly epidemic of police brutality as well as decades of overcriminalization and mass incarceration that have devastated our communities.
Look to the continued efforts of Republicans to suppress the vote, especially in predominantly Black cities and states where they made wild, inaccurate claims of “voter fraud” in the presidential election. Trump sycophants in Congress supported lawsuits and other efforts to throw out the legal votes of Black Americans in cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta, undermining our free and fair elections. We continue to see bogus attempts to keep people from the polls, like voter ID laws, the shutting down of polling places and thousands of voter registrations being purged ahead of elections.
Look to the disproportionate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having as we speak on Black and brown communities, who are facing higher rates of infections, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as economic harm such as unemployment.
And look to what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th: a violent mob of mostly white Trump supporters, many openly belonging to white supremacist hate groups, freely stormed and desecrated the Capitol with little preparation from law enforcement, and walked away unharmed. It was a stark contrast to the massive, forceful police response to peaceful protestors calling for racial justice in the summertime in cities all over the country. Confederate soldiers never crossed the Potomac into Washington, DC during the Civil War, but the Trump insurrectionists breached the Capitol with a confederate flag in 2021.
Things feel dark right now. No doubt. But no matter how dark and discouraging things were, Dr. King let hope and faith lead the way. He dared to imagine a better future, and fought for it. And that’s what we must do now.
On this MLK Day, let’s keep up the fight to reform our criminal justice system by banning dangerous no-knock warrants and chokeholds, stopping racial profiling, holding police accountable for brutality, decriminalizing marijuana and ending mass incarceration.
Let’s keep up the fight to strengthen voting rights by restoring and expanding the Voting Rights Act and stomping out voter suppression.
Let’s keep up the fight for economic justice by raising the minimum wage, creating more jobs, providing high quality public education and affordable housing and healthcare for all.
Let’s keep up the fight against poverty in our communities by committing acts of service, no matter how small or large, to lend a helping hand to our neighbors in need.
And most importantly, let’s keep the faith.
— Hakeem
