The convergence of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration offers a snapshot of how politically and spiritually divided the nation has become, said Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights champion and CEO of The King Center.
Since MLK Day first was observed in 1986, it has fallen on an inauguration day only twice before. But the convergence got a lot of people’s attention this time around, King said during the “Beloved Community Commemorative Service” livestreamed Jan. 20 from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where her father served as pastor during the 1950s.
“It has become a major factor for so many people because of the notable contrast of the two men who are sharing the same space in today’s news cycle and on today’s Gregorian calendar,” she said. “For some, today’s inauguration represents the best of times, Make America Great Again. And for others, it highlights the worst of times, Set America Back Again. For some, today’s King holiday represents a day to champion freedom, justice and democracy. For others, it’s a day to decry DEI, disavow a legacy of peace, love and justice and to distort the meaning of King’s words.”
The service included prayers and Scripture readings by Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders and a keynote address by Bishop William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach and leader of the Moral Mondays campaigns. One of the themes coursing through the event was the need to maintain faith in God and justice during the challenging times anticipated during Trump’s current term, and to look back at how civil rights pioneers like Martin Luther King Jr. can guide advocates moving forward.
“With his leadership, they faced impossible circumstances. … Yet they didn’t recoil or retreat.”
King said her father and other leaders in the movement demonstrated faith-based courage and fortitude that should be remembered as the president’s term unfolds: “With his leadership, they faced impossible circumstances. They dealt with recalcitrant and defiant leaders. They lacked political representation. They didn’t have laws or policies in place to buttress them. Yet they didn’t recoil or retreat.”
King enumerated a few of those defiant leaders: Bull Connor, the Birmingham official who turned police dogs, water hoses and Billy clubs on civil rights protesters in 1963; former Alabama Gov. George Wallace who declared “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” the same year; and Selma Sheriff Jim Clark, who used cattle prods and other violent methods to arrest protesters during the Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965.
That generation of rights advocates never took their eyes off the cause, King declared. “Instead, they had a spiritual determination to stay focused on mission and a belief that with God nothing is impossible, that they were able to destroy segregation without destroying people. They were able to get the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act signed into law. They understood that the mission was greater than any political party or governor, mayor, police commissioner, congressperson or president. It was a mission ultimately commanded by God to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly.”
And it should be no different today, she added. “As this day unfolds and over the next four years, we must remember what we faced before and how we faced it. Yes, we will hear some disturbing things, we will face some difficult days and we will come up against some monumental challenges. Our minds may become boggled by things that may be uttered. Our hearts may become heavy and our spirits may become troubled by the manner in which people are treated. But we must remember that nothing can defeat us if we stay focused on mission.”
Wililam Barber
Barber warned about the weariness that can descend on those pushing for racial and social justice, especially in a nation whose authorities want to turn back the clock on civil rights, wages, poverty, health care and hunger. King and his allies certainly became exhausted being harassed by the FBI and segregationists in the South and Congress while advocating for economic justice and opposing the war in Vietnam, he noted.
“He said, ‘Right now, when you’re at your most worried, nothing would be more tragic than for us to turn around at this point.”’
“He (King) said the nation is sick. Yet he also said in sickness, God is at work. He said that we must build more multiracial alliances, that we must come together where the desperate and the destitute all come together to stand against the injustices that were yet hounding the reality of the American process. Then he said, ‘Right now, when you’re at your most worried, nothing would be more tragic than for us to turn around at this point.’”
That’s precisely where the justice movement finds itself today, Barber added. “We need to hear those words. Nothing would be more tragic than for us to turn around at this point. … So, we come today to remember Dr. King but more to rededicate ourselves to the commitment that we will tell America who she’s supposed to be, whether she listens or not.”
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