Thread by @BulldogShadow

My reflections this #MLKDay:

“The events of January 6th would be uppermost in the mind of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It would weigh on him this January and every month as well. 1/15

“Relatedly, America is in a crucible as authoritarians, driven by racism, seek to erase the progress of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. In this maelstrom Dr. King would hold a single truth as a retort: We aren’t going back! 2/15

“King would recognize those who assaulted the people’s Republic that day and the elected officials who organized and defended the mob. Each of them would be very familiar to him. 3/15

“Neither would he be shocked at the lack of sustained intervention by the federal government in the defense of America’s multiracial democracy. 4/15

“As King wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail; ‘Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.’ 5/15

“Nonetheless, King would be as outraged and disappointed as the majority of Americans should be today. And he would be a summoner. 6/15

“His call? 7/15

“To prepare to defend the soul America. That it’s time the majority of Americans stand up and demand redress from our federal government. 8/15

“That’s it’s time for Washington D.C. to live up to the pledge of President Abraham Lincoln. A promise given on the fields of Gettysburg, 9/15

“‘… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ 10/15

“King would acknowledge that in this most treacherous of moments the American people have shown more courage than its own government. 11/15

“Polls and fair elections consistently show the public majority and commerce consistently choose equity over inequality, hope over hate, curiosity over prejudice and abundance over scarcity. 12/15

“These are the federal priorities we seek. Not the political theater of political violence, conspiracies, and racism, including antisemitism. 13/15

“Dr. King would demand what we should all be demanding each day going forward; that the federal government should fully align itself with the inclusive aspirations of the American majority. 14/15

“Rather than the false fears of a white nationalist minority and those who enable them.” 15/15