January 2026: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1/16/2026 12:00:00 AM

This month we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. not only for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement, but for the broader vision he championed. Dr. King spoke about economic justice, poverty, and the human cost of war in addition to his fight against prejudice. His work extended to other movements and communities across different races, nationalities and faiths. Please see the resources below that reflect some of MLK Jr’s legacy and some of the voices he helped inspire and was inspired by.

READ

1. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On April 16, 1923, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., responded to an open letter written and published by eight clergyman admonishing the civil rights demonstrations happening in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King drafted his seminal response on scraps of paper smuggled into jail. King criticizes his detractors for caring more about order than justice, defends nonviolent protests, and argues for the moral responsibility to obey just laws while disobeying unjust ones.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and architect of the nonviolent civil rights movement, was among the twentieth century’s most influential figures. One of the greatest orators in U.S. history, King also authored several books, including Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, and Why We Can’t Wait. His speeches, sermons, and writings are inspirational and timeless. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

2. Article: History of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement by Nadra Kareem Nittle

Nadra Nittle is a veteran journalist who is currently the education reporter for The 19th. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, NBC News, The Atlantic, Business Insider and other outlets. She is the author of bell hooks’ Spiritual Vision.

3. Palante - Voices and Photographs of the Young Lords, 1969-1971, photographs by Michael Abramson and text by the Young Lords Party

In 1969, a group of young Puerto Rican activists founded the Young Lords Party in New York City, taking inspiration from the Black Panthers. Palante, the first book by and about the radical organization, is brought back into print here with new introductory material. Capturing the spirit and actions of the sixties movements, Palante features political essays by members, oral histories of their lives leading into the party, and more than seventy-five photos of their vibrant membership and actions.

Michael Abramson is writer and documentarian looking back at a multi-decade career as a photojournalist primarily working for the Time-Life family of magazines. Michael Abramson has documented a wide range of subjects, from the conflict in Northern Ireland, street gangs in New York, the Wounded Knee occupation, and a barefoot doctor tending to untouchables in Calcutta, India.

4. The End of Empires - African Americans and India by Gerald Horne

Martin Luther King Jr.’s adaptation of Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolent resistance is the most visible example of the rich history of ties between African Americans and India. In The End of Empires, Gerald Horne provides an unprecedented history of the relationship between African Americans and Indians in the period leading up to Indian independence in 1947.

Recognizing their common history of exploitation, Horne writes, African Americans and Indians interacted frequently and eventually created alliances, which were advocated by W.E.B. Du Bois, among other leaders. Horne tells the fascinating story of these exchanges, including the South Asian influence on the Nation of Islam and the close friendship between Paul Robeson and India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Based on extensive archival research in India, the United States and the United Kingdom, The End of Empires breaks new ground in the effort to put African American history into a global context.

WATCH

1. Selma chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma tells the real story of the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement that prompted change that forever altered history.

2. The Fight in the Fields follows the first successful organizing drive of farm workers in the United States, while recounting the many failed and dramatic attempts to unionize that led up to this victory. Among the many barriers to organizing was the Bracero Program, which flooded the fields with Mexican contract workers between World War II and the 1960s.

3. A Force More Powerful explores how nonviolent resistance defeated oppression worldwide. Part 1 covers India, Nashville, and South Africa. Translated into 12+ languages, it’s inspired millions from Burma to Cuba to Belarus.