January 15, 2024

You might wish you'd paid more attention to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while he was still alive. Sure, you had some idea of what the civil rights leader talked about, but you may have missed listening to one of the most inspirational orators of the century. (And I don't mean the carefully selected quotes Republicans love so much.)

MLK was a radical. He wanted to stop the war machine. He wanted a top-down reckoning of how political choices perpetuate poverty.

He was a threat. That's why he was killed.

Yesterday, I got to listen live to the Rev. Dr. William Barber II, the man who led the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina. He was the guest speaker for King Day at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, and man, he was like Red Bull for the soul. You don't have to be a Christian to appreciate his energy and passion for justice, or to recognize that he's carrying the torch for this generation. He reminds me of why I got into this movement.

His speech starts at 1:09. Go listen.

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