Dear John,
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day! As we honor the monumental legacy of the civil rights pioneer, we must reflect deeply on his radical approach to civic activism and leverage our collective power to bring about long-overdue justice and equality for all.
The key to Dr. King’s activism was “people power.” He had the support of Black women leaders, such as Ella Jo Baker and Coretta Scott King, who advised him on grassroots organizing strategies.1 He had the support of student leaders, who coordinated their own protests at lunch counters across the nation and worked alongside him to combat segregation.2 And he had the support of allies, who made daily trips to federal offices to demand economic justice and stepped up where needed—including financially.
Color Of Change, too, is people-powered. When 900 Color Of Change members donated to our Black Joy Book Drive, we were able to give away more than 650 books to Black children in states where critical race theory was banned. And when 25,000 Color Of Change members signed our #JusticeforGreenwood petition, we were able to pressure the Centennial Commission to allocate $3 million to survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, allowing them to cover urgent needs (e.g., housing) and attorneys’ fees as they continue their fight for justice.
You, John, and our 7 million members are our most powerful weapon in the fight against racial injustice and structural inequality. In the spirit of Dr. King, will you power our efforts to win real-world change for Black people?
YES, I WILL CHIP IN $5 IN HONOR OF DR. KING!
Dr. King once shared that “the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power”—meaning, we must work together to dismantle the systems, structures, and institutions that hold our people back. And, John, Color Of Change is doing just that.
- We’ve won reparations campaigns aimed at redressing the economic exploitation of Black folks and reclaiming ownership over stolen goods/labor, such as driving an unprecedented number of calls to the Los Angeles County Supervisors Office, which led to the historic return of “Bruce Beach” land to descendants of a Black couple who were ousted a century ago.
- We’ve run corporate accountability campaigns aimed at limiting corporate influence on public policy measures, specifically those to which Black lives are tied, such as Delta’s push for the CDC to shorten the COVID quarantine period so that its workers would be denied ample sick time.
- And we’ve run political accountability campaigns aimed at leveraging Black political power to push for reform that would address structural inequalities, such as broad student debt elimination and the ultra-millionaire wealth tax.
At Color Of Change, we’re constantly reimagining pathways to our collective liberation and organizing accordingly. But, John, we’ve got our work cut out for us. If we’re truly going to realize Dr. King’s vision for racial justice, then we need your support!
DONATE TO KEEP OUR WORK GOING
Until justice is real,
— Jade, Johnny, Erica, Amanda, Evan, Imani, FolaSade, Tyler, Eesha, Taurjhai, Angel, Stasia, and Ciera
- Julie Scelfo, “On MLK Day, honor the mother of the civil rights movement, too,” Time, January 16, 2017, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/344319?t=9&akid=52786%2E4731121%2Ev4VjHF; Jeanne Theoharris, “Coretta Scott King and the civil rights movement’s hidden women,” The Atlantic, February 2018, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/344320?t=11&akid=52786%2E4731121%2Ev4VjHF.
- “Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC),” The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute (n.d.), https://act.colorofchange.org/go/344321?t=13&akid=52786%2E4731121%2Ev4VjHF.
