By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
As African Americans across the United States face reversals of equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, efforts to censor and erase Black history, a widening wealth gap and renewed threats to voting rights, a question has emerged: What would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. say?
More than five decades after his assassination, King’s words still shape how the nation talks about justice and equality. Three activists shared how they believe King would respond to the challenges confronting Black Americans today.
“It’s important to remember that Dr. King spoke of the three evils: racism, militarism and poverty. These weren’t separate problems to him, they were interconnected expressions of the same moral crisis,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter (BVM). “What we’re witnessing today—DEI rollbacks, the erasure of Black history, the racial wealth gap and police violence—are not disconnected issues. They are the same system expressing itself through different mechanisms.”
Brown is an award-winning organizer, political strategist and philanthropic consultant with more than 20 years of experience working on social justice issues. With BVM, she works to expand Black political participation and power in underserved communities.
Brown emphasized that voting rights remain central to addressing every issue facing the Black community.
“Dr. King fought for the Voting Rights Act because he knew the ballot is the foundation of all other power,” said Brown.
She recalled King’s own words during a 1957 speech given at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom: “Give us the ballot, and we will transform the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs into calculated good deeds of orderly citizens.”
Today, that struggle continues. Brown noted that cases like Louisiana v. Callais—now before the Supreme Court—challenge key provisions of the Voting Rights Act designed to protect Black voters from discriminatory practices.
“These current attacks aren’t about election integrity,” said Brown. “They’re about preventing the transformation of power from the few to the many.”
Beyond voting rights, Brown said the same systems drive economic inequality, the rollback of diversity initiatives, censorship of Black history and police brutality. She noted that these issues reflect ongoing structural injustices that require coordinated action alongside defending the vote.
“I believe Dr. King would tell us that this is our moment not to despair, but to organize, to use every tool we have: our votes, our voices, our dollars and our collective power,” said Brown. “The concentration of power in the hands of the few depends on our fragmentation. But, when we look out for each other and move as one, we become ungovernable to those who would oppress us and unstoppable in our pursuit of justice.”
Yusef Jackson, chief operating officer of the Rainbow Push Coalition and son of the civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, also offered his take on how King might view the state of the nation today.
“Dr King recognized that our great nation has the wealth and ingenuity for every American to have access to healthcare, housing, education and a fair wage,” he said. “Yet, we continue to lack the political will some six decades after his passing.”
U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume (D-MD-07) underscored Jackson’s statement, noting that the challenges today are merely known by different names than those King confronted decades ago. In 2025, Mfume was on the frontlines of demonstrations, protesting the 47th president’s executive actions.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Congressman Kweisi Mfume
He said he’s called on King’s playbook in his political work.
“My inspiration comes from the fact that he often reminded us that no lie lives forever, that God is still providential and that the arc of the universe always bends toward justice. I use that in my day-to-day work,” said Mfume. “Donald Trump will test that every day – trust me – but even his anger, viciousness, vindictiveness and his wicked ways of doing things can’t stop me or anyone else that holds on to those values.”
Drawing on King’s example, Mfume described how the late civil rights leader might advise Black Americans who are grappling with today’s political and social pressures:
“When times are dark and bleak and when hope and despair are overtaking our community, he said, ‘resist,’” said Mfume. “He would remind us to fight back as he would do, to organize our communities as was done many years ago, to protest indifferences in this society, to vote and to pray to keep our humanity together.”
