Today, we honor the life and enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—a visionary whose courage, compassion, and unwavering belief in justice reshaped history. His call for nonviolence, equality, and love over hate is as relevant and urgent today as we see undeniable links between Black American’s struggle for civil rights in the 1960s and the current moment we find ourselves in. At the ACLU of Montana we heed this call by continuing the fight for justice and equity for all and leaning into the power of collective action.
Dr. King reminded us: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” We are living in such a moment right now.
The ACLU of Montana, alongside our incredible partners, allies, and Montanans across the state, have recently secured victories protecting immigration rights, Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities, Native voting rights, and we’ve shown up in communities across Montana to protest the Trump administration’s abuses of power.. We will continue to raise our voices and use every tool at our disposal to fight for an equitable and just future for all Montanan’s to enjoy.
Let us honor Dr. King’s legacy every day—by coming together and moving forward with hope and resolve, by raising our voices against hate and injustice, and by speaking truth to power. May we continue to listen to his words, and more importantly, may we live them.
Resources
Some of these resources are by or about Dr King, while others speak to the themes of freedom, justice, and racial equality.
To Do:
If you are in Missoula, check out MLK Day at Empower MT’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration. Learn more here: https://www.empowermt.org/mlk
To Read:
- Why We Can’t Wait, Dr. King’s best-selling account of the civil rights movement in Birmingham during the Spring and Summer of 1963
- Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks. "Combining critical thinking about education with autobiographical narratives, hooks invites readers to extend the discourse of race, gender, class and nationality beyond the classroom into everyday situations of learning."
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, "the acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror."
To Listen:
- Code Switch:”The Road to the Promised Land, 50 Years Later”
- Bayard Rustin:”The Man Behind the March on Washington”
- The Docket:”The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Sounds of Social Justice, a playlist presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture
To Watch:
- Selma, a 2014 historical drama depicting the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery.
- King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis, a 1970 biography of Dr King's life from 1955 through his assassination in 1968, based primarily on newsreels and other primary source materials.
- Betty and Coretta, a 2013 historical drama depicting the widows of Dr King and Malcom X following the assassinations of their husbands.