Martin Luther King Day highlights transition from Obama to Trump
Associated Press
ATLANTA
As Americans celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., civil-rights leaders and activists are trying to reconcile the transition from the nation’s first black president to a president-elect still struggling to connect with most nonwhite voters.
In more than one venue Monday, speakers and attendees expressed reservations about President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration, some even raising the specter of the Ku Klux Klan.
“When men no better than Klansmen dressed in suits are being sworn in to office, we cannot be silent,” said Opal Tometi, a Black Lives Matter co-founder, told a crowd in Brooklyn.
King’s daughter offered a less-direct message, encouraging 2,000 people at her father’s Atlanta church to work for his vision of love and justice “no matter who is in the White House.”
Bernice King spoke at Ebenezer Baptist hours before her brother, Martin Luther King III, met privately with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York. The younger King described the meeting as “productive.”
Trump won fewer than 1 out of 10 black voters in November after a campaign of racially charged rhetoric, and tensions have flared anew with his recent criticism of civil rights icon John Lewis, whom the president-elect called “all talk” and “no action.”
Bernice King avoided a detailed critique of Trump, but said the nation has a choice between “chaos and community,” a dichotomy her father preached about. “At the end of the day, the Donald Trumps come and go,” she said, later adding, “We still have to find a way to create ... the beloved community.”
The current Ebenezer pastor, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, did not call Trump by name, but praised his predecessor. “Thank you, Barack Obama,” he said. “I’m sad to see you go.”
In South Carolina, speakers at a state Capitol rally said minority voting power has never been more important and some attendees expressed unease about Trump joining forces with Republican congressional majorities.
“It’s going to be different, that’s for sure,” said Diamond Moore, a Benedict College senior who came to the Capitol. “I’m going to give Trump a chance. But I’m also ready to march.”
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama took part in a service project at a shelter in Washington.
Back in Atlanta, Sen. Bernie Sanders brought the Ebenezer assembly to its feet with his reminder that King was not just an advocate for racial equality, but a radical proponent for economic justice – a mission that put him at odds with the political establishment.
Also in Atlanta, Ohio Republican Gov. John said Americans shouldn’t focus so much on the highest-level people when there are ways to tackle many societal problems at the local and individual levels.
He spoke Monday at The King Center, saying King got the attention of people in power through a “bottom-up” approach worth emulating. Kasich says efforts such as addressing drug use and improving education need people committed at the community level.
Elsewhere, residents in Memphis honored King with neighborhood clean-up events and a daylong celebration at the National Civil Rights Museum.
Bicyclists in Detroit marked the day by pedaling to sites connected to a historic visit King made to the city.