John,

Today is MLK Day. To honor the powerful legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, we must continue working for liberation and racial justice.

Today let’s remember that transformative change doesn’t come from the government; it comes from everyday people pushing for our rights.

People in Congress and the White House didn’t just wake up one day and decide to pass transformative policies like the Civil Rights Act. They were pushed by years of growing people power, which Black Americans built in their communities.

People power works—and it’s a continual effort. Movements have continued to win progress and shift our culture.

We’ve built real power, but anti-Blackness was built into our country’s institutions. It’s still here, and now we’re experiencing a frightening racist backlash to our movements’ growing power—with a presidential administration that’s explicitly white nationalist and anti-Black.

I promise to continue working alongside grassroots movements to push back against Trump’s racism and to dismantle systemic racism, solve the Black maternal health crisis, strengthen our civil rights, close the racial wealth gap, invest in Black communities, deliver environmental justice, and transform our country’s approach to public safety so we center care rather than racist policing or criminalization.

In order to understand and help change our country’s anti-Black present, we don’t have to look that far into our country’s past. For example, ICE’s activity has roots in slave patrols, as well as Jim Crow laws and the genocide of Native Americans.

This country has never lived up to its ideals. But there have always been people here who work to (as Dr. King said) “make real the promises of democracy.”

We stand on the shoulders of our movement ancestors, and we honor them by carrying on their legacy.

So much change starts from people coming together in their communities to make things better. We’re seeing that happen right now.

One way to come together to support each other is through community service. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change encourages people to participate in a day of service today.

Find volunteer opportunities near you or get ideas for DIY service projects you can do—today and beyond.

Thank you. Together we will continue pushing for a fully realized multi-racial democracy, with equity and dignity for all.

Onward together in solidarity,

Rashida