Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we’re highlighting some activists of today and how you can get involved in helping your community.

Inez Bordeaux: Locked up in St. Louis’s notorious Workhouse jail because she couldn’t pay bail, Bordeaux dedicated her life after being released to ending cash bail and restructuring the money we spend on jails, prisons, and police to better serve our communities. 

Cliff Albright: A co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, Albright is also a New York Times-published writer whose work in Georgia helped push Black voter turnout to unprecedented heights during the November election and the January 5 Senate runoff.

DeJuana Thompson: The founder of Woke Vote, an organization with a mission to invest in the activation, long-term engagement, and mobilization of Black voters in the South. Thompson’s approach clearly works: there’s been a marked increase in turnout in every community Woke Vote has worked with.

Philip Agnew: After founding the Dream Defenders in 2012 following the killing of Trayvon Martin, Agnew has been traveling the country ever since, speaking, educating, rallying, and trying to connect with people who social-justice movements have not yet reached. 

Asean Johnson: In 2013, then 9-year-old Johnson gave a series of successful incendiary speeches against the mayor’s plans to close down many Chicago public schools, speaking at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington: “I encourage all of you to keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream alive. Help us fight for freedom, racial equality, jobs, and public education, because I have a dream that we shall overcome.” 

How you can help out in your community:

Support organizations that will lead voting rights actions across the US, and those working to advance solutions for racial justice.

  • Volunteer to text-bank or donate to the Black Voters Matter Fund, co-founded by political strategist, activist and jazz singer LaTosha Brown, and writer Cliff Albright. 
  • Volunteer or donate to Voto Latino, founded by activist, entrepreneur and Emmy nominee María Teresa Kumar.
  • Join Color of Change, an online racial justice movement founded by Rashad Robinson.

Source: benjerry.com, complex.com