Donald J. Trump’s inauguration on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day should be an opportunity for Americans to reflect on the legacy of the civil rights icon, said veteran National Public Radio journalist, Michelle Norris.
“The collision on the calendar today of the commemoration and the inauguration seems like it should be a call to action, a message wrapped up in metaphor, a reminder that the federal commemoration of Dr. King’s life is not merely a day off, but a day on,” Norris said. “It’s a day to remember that we are all one people.”
Norris, who grew up in Minnesota, was the keynote speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast, an annual event that has been held in Minneapolis for the last 35 years to raise money for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Governor Tim Walz and other state leaders including U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey were in attendance.
Norris urged Americans to use MLK Day as a day of reflection on the legacy of Dr. King.
“Dr. King spoke of a mountain top, and it feels like right now we are living in a moment when the hill is particularly steep,” Norris said.
Norris spoke about the importance of storytelling in improving relations between people. She said that as a child growing up in Minnesota, she went to integrated schools that were made possible by Dr. King’s efforts. But society in general wasn’t as integrated as the schools. For example, when her parents bought a house on southside Minneapolis, every person whose house bordered her family’s put their houses up for sale.
“They weren’t ready [for integration],” she said.
But many other people in the neighborhood couldn’t sell fast enough and as a result she grew in an integrated community. That gave people the opportunity to learn more about the Black family that had moved to the neighborhood, she said. Some of the people who were uncomfortable with a Black family moving in got to know her parents well. She also became friends with their children and visited their homes.
“I played hot wheels and barbies in their basements and that community on the southside of Minneapolis is still integrated and still stands strong today,” she said. We all have a story. One of the things that I try to do in my life [and work] is to create places where people can tell their stories so that can see the light in each other, so that we can understand that we sometime have more in common even in moments of division.”
Speaking with Mshale after the event, Minnesota State Senate President Bobby Joe Champion said MLK Day was important because it gave America the opportunity to step back and think about the life of Dr. King, his values, and the sacrifices he made.
“It’s a day of reflection, but also a recommitment for us as individuals to say that we have not achieved the dream,” he said. “We are still working and evolving to fulfill the dream, but we have a long way to go. So, I would hope that as we think about Martin Luther King, that we think about his commitment to voters’ rights acts and civil rights and human rights and economic stability and freedoms and to treat each other humanely with discipline.”
Champion said that although he was always excited about the day, it was also a sad day because Dr. King, who would have been 96 years old on the day, was assassinated.
“He didn’t get a chance to see his daughter grow up and to walk her down the aisle or to see [his children] graduate from school or anything of that nature,” he said. “So, we have that benefit but we know that he made that sacrifice for all of us. I just hope that we don’t see this as a day off, but a day to recommit ourselves to his dream and our collective struggles, and the things that we all collectively need.”
Champion said that it was ironic that both MLK Day and the inauguration fell on the same day, considering how “incredibly different” Trump and Dr. King are.
“One was fighting for love, and other seems to embrace people’s hatred and division,” Champion said. “That’s why it’s more important for us to recommit ourselves to love and unity and trying to do the right thing and speaking up when something is wrong, because if we don’t, then it is our democracy that is at risk and our own collective humanity that is going to suffer.”
Jennifer Borel, a past president of the Rotary Club of Maple Grove who is originally from Nigeria, said she has been coming to the breakfast for 20 years. There is always something new she learned every year, which inspired her to do more for the community.
“We are past the stage of the dream,” she said. “We should all now think about what we can do in what little way. You might think, ‘Who am I, or what difference can I make?’ I bet you there is. Little drops of water, they say, make a mighty ocean. So, wherever you are, or whatever change or impact you can, speak out when you need to.”
Tom Gitaa contributed to this story.
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About Edwin Okong'o - Mshale Contributing Editor
Edwin Okong'o is a Mshale Contributing Editor. Formerly he was the newspaper's editor.
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