This coming Saturday, there will be a march to honor Martin Luther King’s memory. That’s not how it’s being billed, of course, but one day after the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, masses of protesters will converge on Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March. Millions more will join sister rallies across the nation. I’ll be one of those individuals choosing to raise my voice in a call for embracing diversity, championing civil rights, and supporting greater healthcare access, and more.
I know I’m not supposed to say that this is an anti-Trump protest, but it is. At least for me—because let’s face it: This would be a very different sort of gathering had Hillary Clinton won the presidency.
This march is to fight for what’s right as much as it is to denounce what’s wrong with the country. And there is so, so, so much wrong right now. Voters just chose a leader who campaigned—and still seems to be campaigning in an odd way—on a platform of hate.
That’s why it’s perhaps very fitting that this march is taking place shortly after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Just as King unified people in the spirit of tolerance, so too are myriad people coming together this weekend. Indeed, the Women’s March is an ideal way to honor King’s legacy. A civil-rights leader who refused to remain silent in the face of horrible treatment, he used his words and influence to inspire countless others to rise up.
King’s efforts have essentially become blueprints for today’s civil-rights actions. The way we talk about equality, the way we march for it, the practice of passive resistance in this country—we owe all this and more to King. And so I can only say to him, “Thank you.” But more importantly, I can show my gratitude by doing what King would do if he were alive today: advocate for human rights and resist those who oppose them.
