Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2024
The annual King Holiday Observance is a time that we celebrate, commemorate and honor the life, legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we witness nations around the world continue to struggle under the weight of violence, hate and poverty, today’s social, political and economic landscape reveals the urgent necessity of Dr. King’s philosophy and methodology of Nonviolence. The King Center’s theme for 2024 is ‘Shifting the Cultural Climate through the Study and Practice of Kingian Nonviolence’. This theme defines the 2024 King Holiday Observance while serving as a compass for all the work we will do this upcoming calendar year and beyond. The pioneering work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. demonstrated that Nonviolence is the sustainable solution to injustice and violence in our world, ultimately leading to the creation of the Beloved Community, where injustice ceases and love prevails.
As people were moved to action in response to the murder of Emmett Till generations ago, today people are still speaking up after the murder of George Floyd. Today’s racial reckoning shines a spotlight on the persistent inequities in minority communities in the areas of climate change, housing, employment, healthcare and COVID-19, and education. Currently, we are all navigating the impacts of these events; ongoing racial tension, unaddressed mental health needs, and deep economic impacts in a bursting capitalist system.
While these issues continue to be complex, they can be addressed. After deep advocating for inclusion in the Portrait of Sonoma, we got it. After a continued push for inclusion in the COVID-19 outreach programs, we got it. And now, with more data, we will continue to push for shifts in our community culture of dismissiveness, ignoring the uncomfortable and hard conversations around the inequities deeply impacting Black residents in Sonoma County. As we continue to experience erasure and disrespect, we will continue to fight to have our work honored and prevent plagiarism, and we will continue to pull up our own chairs to tables and call attention to each and every situation until these behaviors and actions cease.
Inscribed at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” These words are still relevant to the increasingly Black, Brown, and Indigenous homeless, tempest-tossed and huddled masses yearning to breathe free. It is going to take a lot to make those words a reality for them, and to help all Sonoma County folks realize the possibility of the “American Dream” that provides room for more than just fighting to survive and to truly live free.
However you choose to be of service or learning on this holiday, let us not pretend like he was a beloved figure while he was living. The more pertinent question is, how could a man who simply “had a dream”, be so hated? Dr. King was truly more than a dreamer. He produced tangible results that we are still benefiting from to this day. I hope this day can serve as a reminder that we must constantly hold our cities, county, and country to its promise of the undeniable rights of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’.
Our Santa Rosa – Sonoma Branch continues the ‘Freedom Dream’ for a new future and to transform unjust systems. “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” So, how will you commit to do your part in alleviating the adversity that we all face as one race, the human race?
I invite you to consider a membership of our branch; not just to get your card in the mail and read a few emails, but to be an active member engaged with at least one committee and attending events and programs. Afterall, in the words of Dr. King, ‘The time is always right to do what is right.’
President Lange