Hi John,
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
Today is a day to volunteer, organize, and get to work rebuilding our country. It is also a day to reflect on Rev. Dr. King’s words, in which he inspires us to continue the struggle for a fairer, more just world:
"Make a career of humanity… It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man… You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
Here at Action Network & Action Builder, we have the honor of supporting the work of countless trailblazing organizers and activists who are furthering progressive causes year-round.
Quentin Mays, Director of Partnerships & Community Engagement at the Analyst Institute, leads an amazing team that serves the greater progressive community by prioritizing accessible and digestible training content and resources. In an interview last year, Quentin gave us his thoughts on what it means to build power for Black communities — and how crucial that is to achieving other progressive goals:
“We don’t achieve any of the electoral outcomes desired without liberated communities and without abolition and freedom in a real way. And I know those words are scary for some folks of the movement who may not be as progressive, but it’s true. We’re not going to change minds based on even the perfect messaging. And politics does not remove or erase racism. It just doesn’t. So how we are attacking that through our own community building and then using that to build power, and then welcoming liberation? And if we’re not focused on that, then we’re kind of spinning our wheels. We’re setting ourselves up for the pendulum swinging of the oppressor.”
Click here to read the full interview with Quentin Mays. You can read more about the Analyst Institute’s work here.
On behalf of all of us at Action Network & Action Builder, THANK YOU to the organizers working tirelessly to build a fairer, more just world.
In Solidarity,
Marvin Steele
Director of Partnerships
Action Network & Action Builder
