Saturday, January 18, 2025

Trump inauguration, MLK Day on same day? Activists call for action.

WASHINGTON – While Donald Trump is being sworn in as president for the second time on Monday, civil rights activists plan to take a different oath just a few blocks from the White House.

They will remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose federal holiday named in his honor also falls on that day, by pledging to challenge any efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle hard-fought gains in civil rights.

For these activists, Trump represents everything King worked against, and for them, it would dishonor King's legacy to remain silent ‒ on this of all days.

“Everything that Dr. King stood for, Donald Trump has stated clearly he wants to dislodge," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, which is hosting a rally at a historic Black church near the White House.
Sharpton and other civil rights leaders said the inauguration and King holiday falling on the same day offers a chance to remind the nation of work that still needs to be done.

For them, that includes protecting voting rights, defending diversity initiatives, fighting for better wages and expanding access to quality and affordable health care.

It's also a chance, they said, to point out how King preached a message of love and unity to bring about change, while Trump's rhetoric often strikes them as hateful and divisive.

King Center MLK Day event to focus on "prophetic response" to Trump

Axios

an hour ago

MLK Day and Trump inauguration collide in stark civil rights divide

Rev. William Barber II speaks to several thousand marchers during the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly & Moral March On Washington DC & To The Polls in June 2024. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Repairers of the Breach

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change will mark MLK Day on Monday with "moral reflection and prophetic response" amid uncertainty as President-elect Trump retakes office.

Why it matters: This year, the King holiday and the presidential inauguration fall on the same day — a paradox that civil rights leaders say underscores the nation's deep divide.

Many see a contrast between a man who preached peace and an incoming president whose rhetoric has deepened racial divides, raising fears that Trump could roll back civil rights gains.

The big picture: Trump's second term follows a campaign filled with racist rhetoric, anti-trans policies, and mass deportation promises—raising concerns about the long-term impact on civil rights and equality.

King Center officials and the King family aim to use MLK Day to remind Americans of their responsibility for human rights and poverty action.

Zoom in: Bishop William J. Barber, II, President & Sr. Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, will offer a keynote sermon on Monday at the 40th Annual King Holiday Observance Commemorative Service.