Title: How Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy Can Guide Progressives in a Divided America
As the country commemorates Martin Luther King Jr.’s national holiday on the same day President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in, many on the left are struggling with feelings of despair. Despite the shocking images from the January 6 insurrection and Trump’s likely second term, King’s legacy offers lessons for those who don’t subscribe to a MAGA vision of America.
For Jemar Tisby, a historian and author, accepting your anger is the first step in initiating change. “Lamenting is part of justice,” he says. “I don’t think it is healthy as human beings to skip over the grief we feel over our nation and our democracy and jump straight into action. The first step is to feel your feelings.”
Four uncomfortable lessons from King’s life can guide progressives, including rejecting the “good vs. evil” narrative, accepting that “within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good.” These lessons also emphasize the importance of building alliances across racial lines, rejecting the demonization of opponents, and using social media responsibly.
King was known for his ability to unite people from different racial and economic backgrounds. His commitment to non-violence and his words of wisdom can inspire a new generation of leaders. As Tisby notes, “If we make success or failure of our justice work about the externals — a law gets passed, the policy gets changed, who we want gets in office — what happens when we lose? How do you keep going?”
In a world where hashtag activism seems to have limited impact, King’s legacy shows that real change is often made possible through collective action. “The revolution will not be digitized,” King biographer David Garrow says. “Those who studied and marched with King say you must also put your body where your beliefs are.”
Ultimately, King’s example offers a beacon of hope for Americans who long for a more just and equitable society. As he famously said, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”