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COULD THIS BE THE LAST YEAR WE COMMEMORATE MLK DAY AS A FEDERAL
HOLIDAY?  
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Janice Ellis
January 19, 2026
Missouri Independent
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_ Doing something, continuing to root out inequality and injustice
where we encounter it, is the greatest tribute we can pay to Martin
Luther King Jr. _

The monument to Dr Martin Luther King in Washington DC was dedicated
by President Barack Obama on Aug. 28, 2011,
(BackyardProductions/iStock Images).

 

If left up to the Trump administration, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
would likely be nullified as a federal holiday.

Trump used his executive powers to change the observance of MLK Day
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by cancelling it as a free-admission day for those who wish to visit
our national parks during federal holidays.

The order also applies to Juneteenth. Access to the national parks on
those two days will no longer be free as it is with other federal
holidays. However, free admission days this year will include June 14,
Trump’s birthday, which is also Flag Day and is not a federal
holiday.

Obstructing the commemoration or MLK Day is just one more step in
mitigating, minimizing or outright undoing the place and role of Black
Americans.

Targeting and removing diversity, equity and inclusion
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programs and initiatives in both the public and private sectors has
been a high priority during the second term of the Trump
administration.

Trump’s most recent declaration is that the Civil Rights Act hurt
white people
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resulting in “white people being treated very badly.” What will be
next?

Will there be ongoing efforts to bury, erase and recast all of the
Black experience — the inhumane and inequitable treatment across
generations, as well as the contributions to this country despite it?

Is the desire to bury everything about Black people in a time capsule,
never to be found.

As we pause to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King
Jr., we should take notice of the stark and diabolical efforts to
undue everything he worked and paid the ultimate price for: equal
treatment, access and opportunities, not only for Blacks but poor
whites and all the down-trodden among us.

Clearly, the work is not done.

There are concerted efforts in every aspect of American life to undue
the progress made so far and stop the march toward equality.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in America’s promise — the ideals,
principles and laws on which this country was founded and promoted. He
mobilized others and appealed to elected officials and policymakers at
every level of government to ensure that laws, rights and privileges
of the land applied equally to all citizens, irrespective of skin
color, gender or station in life.

That was his dream. His life’s work. His ultimate sacrifice.

When remembering King the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which he
delivered during the march on Washington, D.C. in 1963, is often
referenced.

But the fire that burned within King’s soul, that led him to
dedicate his life toward eradicating social evil and injustice,
started long before — nearly 20 years earlier when he traveled to
Dublin, Georgia as a senior in high school to deliver “The Negro and
the Constitution” in an oratory contest
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Perhaps, King’s dream was just a flicker back then. But as you
follow King’s life through college and the seminary, you see that
flicker grows into a flame. The more he saw and heard, the more he
could not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear. He set out on a life-long
journey to eradicate human injustice.

What issues or conditions tug at your heart and soul deeply enough to
spend time to change them, make things better for the disenfranchised
among us?

It is never too early or too late to do something.

America needs dreamers today like Martin Luther King, Jr. to fix some
of its greatest social, racial challenges and inequities.

Many we thought were behind us, only to realize the resurgence of many
anew.

While besieged by the current hyperbolic and unpredictable political
environment perpetuated by the Trump administration and his state and
local cohorts, we could easily lose sight of the ground we have lost
in recent years in the quest for equality and equal opportunity —
many of the things King fought and died for.

Schools across America are still segregated
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some more than ever.

Voting rights continue to be challenged in many states
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making it more difficult for Blacks and other minorities to exercise
their right to vote.

There is still discrimination occurring in the job market, access to
housing
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and access to higher education whether it involves admission to
colleges, universities of technical vocational institutions.

Discrimination is still rampant in the justice system
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when it comes to racial profiling, traffic stops, or issuing the same
punishments for the same crime. There are injustices even among how
schools discipline Black children and white children
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for the same misconduct.

The pronouncement, executive orders and other actions of the Trump
administration have only fueled racial inequity and discord, bringing
it front and center in almost every aspect of our daily lives.

Is this your dream for America?

Doing something, continuing to root out inequality and injustice where
we encounter it, is the greatest tribute we can pay to Martin Luther
King Jr.

When King took up the fight to realize America’s promise for all of
her citizens, he knew  change would not come overnight.

What are we willing to do, whether Martin Luther King Jr. Day remains
a federal holiday or not?

 

_Janice Ellis lives in Missouri and has been an executive in both
government and the private sector. She has written commentary for more
than four decades, which has appeared on radio, in news publications
across the country and online._

 

_The Missouri Independent is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news
organization dedicated to relentless investigative journalism and
daily reporting that sheds light on state government and its impact on
the lives of Missourians. This service is free to readers and other
news outlets. We’re part of __States Newsroom_
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nonprofit news organization._

* Martin Luther King Jr.
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* DEI
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* school segregation
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* voting rights
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* criminal justice
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* Trump Administration
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* racial inequality
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