Indivisibles,
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and we think one great way to honor
his legacy is by taking on the systemic injustices that have historically
made this a country for the few, not the many.
In 2021, we’re taking action and demanding justice for the 700,000 people
who’ve been disenfranchised in the District of Columbia. One of the key
priorities outlined in our latest [ [link removed] ]Indivisible Guide is democracy
reform, and that starts with addressing critical racial justice and civil
rights issues like D.C. statehood. Historically, racist politicians have
prevented D.C. from becoming a state because the city has long been a
majority Black city. If you’re ready to start charting a new path forward,
[ [link removed] ]start calling your members of Congress this week and demand they
support the D.C. statehood bill (H.R. 51). Then, keep reading for more on
Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement of today.
While we encourage our movement to reflect on King’s words, teachings, and
impact, it’s important to recognize that King’s legacy has largely been
sanitized and made more palatable for white audiences. [ [link removed] ]Democratic
Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock spoke of this in 2018, drawing on the
history of the Civil Rights Movement and his own experience as a pastor at
the same church as King. He said, “When Dr. King died we resurrected a new
Martin Luther King Jr., one who does not make us too uncomfortable ... He
was the best kind of patriot because he loved the country enough to tell
the country the truth.”
Like a mirror held up before the country, King was honest about America’s
plagues -- the white-supremacist violence, the racial segregation, the
institutionalized discrimination and disenfranchisement -- and for being
honest, he was assassinated. In his [ [link removed] ]‘Letters From Birmingham Jail’,
King expressed that freedom is never given voluntarily -- it must be
demanded.
We can never forget that when demanding more power, when making the
institutions that exploit us uncomfortable and quake, there will be a
struggle. America was founded on the oppression of Black, Brown, and
Indigenous peoples, and our democracy was rigged from the start. If we
hope to make our democracy as inclusive and representative as possible,
we’re going to have to demand change, and expect a backlash from those who
are in power.
The last two weeks offered a glimpse of this very struggle -- [ [link removed] ]on
January 5, Rev. Warnock won his Senate run-off election in Georgia --
making history as the first Black Democratic senator from the South.
Warnock’s win, as well as Jon Ossoff’s, clinched the Senate for the
Democrats and ensured a Democratic trifecta. These monumental wins were
made possible by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) activists
on the ground in Georgia organizing, registering, and activating BIPOC
voters. Organizations like Color of Change, Black Voters Matter, the New
Georgia Project, Fair Fight, Mijente, Poder Latinx, People for the
American Way, America Votes, local Indivisible groups, and more, made a
huge impact on this election, and in November.
In response, we saw white-supremacist, right-wing violence all over the
country on January 6. If we compare [ [link removed] ]the police response to the violent
mob that stormed the Capitol to that of the peaceful protests for racial
justice and economic equity last summer, it becomes painfully clear that
this struggle threatens those in power. It’s critical that we look at this
moment through the long scope of American history to understand how we got
here, and also, we must acknowledge that for most Black Americans, these
experiences aren’t new or unexpected:
“It’s clear that a river of rage and anger runs from [ [link removed] ]Jim Crow America
to the [ [link removed] ]tiki-torch protests in Charlottesville to the mobs this
week...Something is being snatched from them and it’s not just money or
jobs or security or even the White House.”
[ [link removed] ]Michele L. Norris
That something Norris is referring to is power. It’s whiteness. It’s
claiming this space as theirs, and theirs only. When we look back at the
struggle for Black Americans to work, vote, and exist in the Jim Crow
south, we can draw a line straight to BIPOC Georgian’s enfranchisement in
the last two years and the struggle for representation and statehood in
D.C. That’s why we’re prioritizing democracy reforms like D.C. statehood
-- they’re critical to ensuring a truly representative democracy for all
Americans.
We’ll leave you with King’s words from [ [link removed] ]'Letters from Birmingham
Jail':
“For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every
Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'Wait' has almost always meant
'Never.' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that
'justice too long delayed is justice denied.'"
We’re tired of waiting -- and we hope you’ll [ [link removed] ]make calls demanding D.C.
statehood this week.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
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