“He gifted us with a blueprint for revolutionary change, and it should be our roadmap as we govern over the next four years.”

BOSTON – In a powerful op-ed published in the Boston Globe today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) ) reflected on the painful contradictions of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day as she navigates honoring Dr. King’s legacy and preparing her district for the harm of a second Trump presidency.

In the piece, Congresswoman Pressley discussed her decision to spend the day in her district rather than attend the presidential inauguration, the importance of community-building in a time of chaos, and how King’s advocacy for bold, transformative policies should be a roadmap for governing over the next four years.

Today at 1:30pm at the Bruce Bolling Building in Roxbury, Congresswoman Pressley will host a Day of Beloved Community to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, offer a message of hope, and provide community members with resources to address the harm of the incoming Trump Administration. Media wishing to attend the event are asked to RSVP here.

Full text of the Congresswoman’s op-ed is available here and below.

Boston Globe Op-Ed: Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and Leaning Into Our Power
By Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
January 20, 2025

Today, I am waking up with my soul unsettled. As a Black woman with the awesome responsibility of serving in Congress, I had hoped to spend today celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by witnessinga Black woman who has fought relentlessly for civil rights take the oath of office as president of the United States.

But this year, America faces a profound and painful contradiction: As we mark theMLKholiday, a white supremacist will retake the highest office in the land, poised to inflict more hurt and harm on the vibrant yet vulnerable communities I was elected to represent.

This day is a stark reminder of the fragility of our progress and the persistence of racism, militarism, and economic exploitation — the three evils King fought so fiercely against. It is also a call to action.

King posed a question that is as relevant today as it was in 1967: Will we descend into chaos, or will we build a beloved community? The answer must always be community, and we as a people must always do the work to actively build it.

As congresswoman for the Massachusetts 7th — a dynamic and diverse district that is also one of the most unequal in the country — I see every day the disparities King fought so hard to eradicate. Families struggling to keep roofs over their heads. Parents juggling the cost of groceries, medications, and child care. A glaring racial wealth gap. The pain is real, and the stakes could not be higher under Donald Trump’s second presidency.

That is why, rather than attending the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., I will spend the day in Roxbury — the heart of Boston’s Black community — hosting a Day of Beloved Community. This event will offer resources, workshops, and space for healing, all aimed at empowering our neighbors to navigate and prepare for the harm of the incoming Trump administration.

And while Trump and Republicans whitewash King’s legacy and twist his words to justify their hateful vision for America, I’ll remind them that King was not just a peaceful protester who “had a dream.” Hewas a radical visionary whose ideas were considered bold for the times, including full inclusion, equity, voting rights, and a redistribution of wealth and resources. He gifted us with a blueprint for revolutionary change, and it should be our roadmap as we govern over the next four years.

If we are to honor King’s legacy of beloved community as an antidote to cruelty and chaos, we must grow our movement centered in love and righteous indignation. We must fight for our neighbors and our loved ones. We must dig deep and begin the process of healing at the local level.

Some Democrats may feel tempted to moderate our policy aspirations, but if we learned anything from the past election, it’s that responsive progressive policy is popular, and Democrats must lean in. We saw that in states across the country, where voters in the last election overwhelmingly supported progressive policy through ballot measures to codify abortion protections, enact paid leave, raise the minimum wage, and strengthen the right to unionize. We’ve also seen innovative policies like Baby Bonds, fare-free transit, tuition-free community college, and liquor license reform gain traction in Massachusetts and across the country. These are the types of bold policies we should continue fighting for.

I know many are feeling deep fear, uncertainty, and weariness. Some of our neighbors are making contingency plans for their families and loved ones.

That is why we must do everything we can to protect vulnerable communities, including our Black, brown, LGBTQ+, disabled, and immigrant neighbors, and everyone who stands to be harmed by this new administration. We need to lean into mutual aid, ready every stopgap, and pull close our governors, attorneys general, state houses, and city and town halls to protect our fundamental rights. This is especially important in districts like mine, one of the most unequal in the country that was among the hardest-hit by the last Trump presidency—from his Administration’s failed response to the pandemic that harmed communities like Chelsea, Randolph, and Everett, to his 2017 tax cut bill that exacerbated income inequality and entrenched wealth disparities, and his Supreme Court justices dismantling affirmative action and impacting Black enrollment at universities like Harvard.

King reiterated time and time again that “our most fruitful course is to stand firm, move forward nonviolently, accept disappointment and cling to hope.”

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let us reject chaos and commit ourselves to building community. Let us follow King’s blueprint not with empty platitudes, but with collective action and transformative legislation. Let us have the imagination to envision a more just world, the strategy to bring it to fruition, and the stamina to see it through.

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