Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking, Alabama State Capitol, 1965
(Photo/Stephen Somerstein)
By Karen Stokes
On the third Monday in January, communities across the nation celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a day of events, church services, and community breakfasts. Yet Dr. King would not have envisioned the day as just one of reflection but also a call for action, driven by a commitment to justice.
During the Selma to Montgomery march on March 25, 1965, Dr. King stood at the Alabama State Capitol and reminded the nation that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
This quote continues to resonate today. It’s a call to action. The arc can only bend when dedicated individuals work to push it.
In King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail, he criticizes moderates who urged patience: “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
King’s faith in justice was grounded in the courage of everyday people to challenge injustice.
There’s a troubling history of the struggles of injustice in America. The Freedom Riders faced horrific violence as they traveled through the South. The four young girls who were killed by a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. John Lewis and civil rights marchers faced down tear gas, billy clubs, and Bull Connor, using police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses against Civil Rights protesters, including children. In the face of danger, determined individuals moved the nation toward justice and helped secure progress.
In the 1960s, King fought for Black Americans’ rights to end segregation, secure voting rights, and achieve economic justice, tackling issues like employment discrimination, poor housing, inadequate education, and unfair wages, extending his nonviolent philosophy to nationwide struggles against poverty and war.
Today, the struggles have not all disappeared but have simply taken new forms.
By late 2025 and early 2026, Black unemployment rose to approximately 7.5%, levels not seen since the pandemic recovery, which far exceeded overall U.S. and white worker rates, driven by federal job cuts, industry shifts, and the rollback of diversity programs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Redistricting efforts in states such as Texas and North Carolina have been criticized as attempts to weaken Black voting power and representation, potentially violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Cuts to Department of Education funding for Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and rollbacks of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives would disproportionately harm Black students by increasing financial strain, reducing support services, and limiting access to inclusive educational environments.
Racial and economic bias persists in the criminal justice system, where Black men are incarcerated at six times the rate of White men, many Black adults report unfair police treatment, and fear of discrimination can deter seeking help, contributing to higher community mortality rates and reduced access to justice.
Silence and complicity are widely argued to hinder progress on issues facing the Black community by allowing systemic racism to persist. Progress stalls when people disengage.
In 2026, Black communities are shaping the arc by utilizing a variety of approaches to fight struggles, emphasizing political mobilization, economic empowerment, community solidarity, and advocacy for civil rights. The strategies leverage the actions of individuals and of organizations.
Dr. King spoke about the dangers and consequences of inaction.
“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people”.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends,” he said.