{"id":416451,"date":"2026-01-19T08:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T08:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416451\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T08:53:09","slug":"the-current-us-political-climate-is-spurring-a-reclaim-and-rallying-on-the-mlk-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416451\/","title":{"rendered":"The current US political climate is spurring a ‘reclaim’ and rallying on the MLK holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

As communities across the country on Monday host parades, panels and service projects for the 40th federal observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day<\/a>, the political climate for some is more fraught with tensions than festive with reflection on the slain Black American civil rights icon’s legacy.<\/p>\n

In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration fell on King Day, the Republican president has gone scorched earth against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and targeted mostly Black-led cities<\/a> for federal law enforcement operations, among other policies that many King admirers have criticized. <\/p>\n

One year ago, Trump’s executive orders, \u201cEnding Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity\u201d and \u201cEnding Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,\u201d accelerated a rollback of civil rights and racial justice initiatives in federal agencies, corporations and universities. Last month, the National Park Service announced it will no longer offer free admission<\/a> to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday.<\/p>\n

The fatal shooting this month of an unarmed Minneapolis woman in her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent there to target the city’s Somali immigrant population, as well as Trump recently decrying civil rights as discrimination against white people, have only intensified fears of a regression from the social progress King and many others advocated for. <\/p>\n

Still, the concerns have not chilled many King holiday events planned this year. Some conservative admirers of King say the holiday should be a reminder of the civil rights icon’s plea that all people be judged by their character and not their skin color. Some Black advocacy groups, however, are vowing a day of resistance and rallies nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ve always strived to be a more perfect union’<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump said he felt the Civil Rights Movement and the reforms it helped usher in were harmful to white people, who \u201cwere very badly treated.\u201d Politicians and advocates say Trump’s comments are what are harmful, because they dismiss the hard work of King and others that helped not just Black Americans but other groups, including women and the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Civil Rights Movement was one of the things that made our country so unique, that we haven\u2019t always been perfect, but we\u2019ve always strived to be this more perfect union, and that\u2019s what I think the Civil Rights Movement represents,\u201d Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland\u2019s first Black governor and only the nation\u2019s third elected Black governor, said this week in an interview with The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation\u2019s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, said the Trump administration’s priorities make clear it is actively trying to erase the movement. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom health care access and affordable housing to good paying jobs and union representation,” Wiley said, \u201cthings Dr. King made part of his clarion call for a beloved community are still at stake and is even more so because (the administration) has dismantled the very terms of government and the norms of our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank is encouraging the holiday\u2019s focus to stay solely on King himself. Brenda Hafera, a foundation research fellow, urged people to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta or reread his \u201cI have a dream\u201d speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington nearly 63 years ago.<\/p>\n

But using the holiday as a platform to rally and speak about \u201canti-racism\u201d and \u201ccritical race theory\u201d actually rejects King\u2019s ambition for the country, Hafera argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think efforts should be conducted in the spirit of what Martin Luther King actually believed and what he preached. And his vision was a colorblind society, right,\u201d Hafera said. \u201cHe says very famously in his speech, don\u2019t judge by the color of your skin, but the content of your character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Groups call for holiday of reclamation, education and rallying<\/p>\n

The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil right organization which had a myriad MLK Day events planned for Monday, asserted that the heightened fears among communities of color and in immigrant communities mean King Day observances must take a different tone. People will have to put their safety first, even if their government isn’t, said Wisdom Cole, NAACP senior national director of advocacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs folks are using their constitutional right to protest and to speak out and stand up for what they believe in, we are being faced with violence. We are faced with increased police and state violence inflicted by the government,\u201d Cole said. <\/p>\n

The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, has planned its events under the banner \u201cReclaim MLK Day of Action.\u201d Organizers planned demonstrations in Atlanta, Chicago and Oakland, California, among other cities, over the weekend and Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year it is more important than ever to reclaim MLK\u2019s radical legacy, letting his wisdom and fierce commitment to freedom move us into the action necessary to take care of one another, fight back, and free ourselves from this fascist regime,\u201d Devonte Jackson, a national organizing director for the coalition, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Indiana school cancels historic MLK Day event<\/p>\n

For the first time in its 60-year history, Indiana University in Indianapolis canceled its annual Martin Luther King dinner. Over the years, the event drew notable guest speakers including Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, and activist Angela Davis. <\/p>\n

The reasoning was \u201cbudget constraints,\u201d according to a social media post by the school’s Black Student Union. However, the group said it was worried this was \u201cconnected to broader political pressures.\u201d A few students have since organized smaller community dinners or \u201ceat-ins\u201d to fill the void, WTHR-TV in Indianapolis reported. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Westbrook, Maine, canceled a MLK Day service due to \u201cunforeseen circumstances,\u201d according to the parish website. But a member of the church’s \u201csocial justice and peace committee\u201d told NewsCenterMaine.com that the pastor was concerned about people’s safety amid rumors of ICE agents being in the area.<\/p>\n

Overall, there have been few reports of King Day events being majorly scaled down or canceled altogether. <\/p>\n

In Memphis, Tennessee, the National Civil Rights Museum is going about its annual King Day celebration as normal. The museum is located on the site of the former Lorraine Motel, where King was shot on April 4, 1968. The museum is offering free admission on the holiday, an annual tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis milestone year is not only about looking back at what Dr. King stood for, but also recognizing the people who continue to make his ideals real today,\u201d museum President Russell Wigginton said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Tang reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Washington, Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As communities across the country on Monday host parades, panels and service projects for the 40th federal observation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[199340,4,450,199343,199339,12,90609,451,4551,199342,3,111,10119,199344,199341,452,453,795,8630],"class_list":["post-416451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-angela-davis","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-brenda-hafera","tag-devonte-jackson","tag-donald-trump","tag-ethnicity","tag-headlines","tag-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-maya-wiley","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-race","tag-russell-wigginton","tag-shirley-chisholm","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-u-s-news","tag-wes-moore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}