He never lost hope. Neither should we.

He was “the most notorious liar in the country.” An extremist. A radical. A fraud. A communist. The enemy within. That’s what the government called Martin Luther King Jr. Most white Americans even believed he was hurting the civil rights movement, not helping it. And after he was assassinated, nearly a third of the country said he brought it on himself.

That’s what happens when someone demands a better country, and powerful people feel threatened by it.

This is the pattern. It always has been. When someone threatens concentrated power, especially by asking for fairness, they’re branded as dangerous. And then they’re dehumanized.

In his lifetime, Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn’t honored by the country the way he should have been. He was respected and loved by many in the Movement, but to those in power, he was seen as a threat. He was targeted and undermined. The government spied on him. The media distorted him. Most white Americans said he was pushing too far, too fast. And when he was murdered, nearly a third of the country said he brought it on himself.

That’s what powerful people do when they feel threatened by truth, and when their power depends on racism.

And yet, his vision endured. He didn’t live long enough to see the full impact of what he started, but that vision still took root. It spread through generations. It reshaped our laws, our institutions, and our understanding of who we claim to be. His belief in nonviolence, justice, and dignity changed this country. And even if it feels like we’re in a deep backslide now, we’re not starting from scratch. We are standing on the foundation he helped build. The Movement didn’t end with him; it empowered the people who came after him.

And still, all these decades later, we’re watching the same playbook roll out again. Donald Trump calls his critics “vermin.” He uses the Justice Department like a personal retribution unit and floats the idea of using the military against people who protest his policies, his power, or his presidency.

He was so threatened by MLK that he revoked free national park access on that day, a quiet move that erased part of how many Americans honored it. And in its place, he elevated Flag Day as the new free park day, which just happens to fall on his birthday.

The racism isn’t subtle. And neither is the ego. MLK Day is the only federal holiday in the United States that honors a person of color. It’s the only day set aside to recognize a Black American leader. And he couldn’t stand it.

And somehow, even now, people hesitate to say what this is. But it’s not just racism. This is an authoritarian leader drilling into a fascist takeover. Call the truth-tellers radicals. Call the peacekeepers dangerous. Call the people asking for fairness un-American. Strip them of their humanity. Tell the public they’re diseased, a threat, something to be “handled.”

It’s the same playbook, every time. For MLK, it was racism at its core. But now we’re up against both racism and authoritarianism. And I can’t help but wonder what he would think of all this.

A few years ago, my family and I took a road trip across the country. We drove from California to the East Coast and back. And we made a deliberate stop in Memphis. I needed to visit the site of MLK’s assassination. I needed to go to the museum and stand outside the Lorraine Motel, not to see it, but to feel it and to pay my respects. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but for me, history is easier understood where it happened, and this was just another moment where I was trying to understand the weight of that moment and time in history. I stood there and just whispered to myself, “We remember.” Because even in a country built on selective memory, we would never forget.

What I didn’t expect was the backlash. When I wrote about our time there, people commented on the article with some very ugly words. They pointed out his flaws as if that somehow erased his legacy. And all I could think was, yes, we’re all flawed. But this man still looked at the United States, after everything it did to him, and believed it could be better. He saw the cracks and still chose to believe in the light that could shine through them. He knew it would take truth, fairness, equality, and courage. And he knew that would terrify those who benefit from injustice, and that it could cost him his life.

Today, Black and brown Americans are still being brutalized for many of the same reasons he was. We are still living in a country where racism shapes the law, and the law is used as a weapon. Just this morning, ICE bulldozed the door of a naturalized citizen in the freezing cold. ChongLy Thao, a 56‑year‑old Hmong man who goes by the name Scott, was dragged out without being allowed to put on clothes. “They just took me out there with no clothes on and then just covered me with my grandson’s blanket. Yeah, they just took me out there, and I was like, ‘Man, this is embarrassing,” Thao said from his home as neighbors were at work fixing the broken door. After taking his fingerprints and a photograph of him in the car, officers returned him to his home, Thao said.

His son, Chris Thao, put it plainly: “We came here for a purpose, right? … To have a bright future. To have a safe place to live. If this is going to turn out to be America, what are we doing here? Why are we here?”

This man is an American. But his accent and his skin color made him a target. And even if he wasn’t a citizen, why are we allowing this to happen to anyone?

And where was the President of the United States while this brutality was playing out? Encouraging it. He was posting about ICE, praising them for “removing the worst murderers and criminals in the world” in Minnesota. He said the real problem there was the media giving ICE too much attention, and not enough attention was being paid to his made-up state corruption claims. He was once again justifying cruelty, targeting immigrants, and using fear to hold on to his slipping power and control.

Trump is using fear and cruelty here at home to get his way. But he’s not stopping at our borders. He’s escalating his attacks and dragging the rest of the world into his mess, too. And now he’s admitted in writing what we already knew: he never cared about peace. He just wanted a shiny prize. And now that he didn’t get it, he no longer feels the need to pretend. The image of being “the peace president” is gone. His only strategy now is revenge, and a consolation prize in the form of an island that doesn’t belong to him or to the United States.

And last night, right as I was about to fall asleep, I made a mistake. I opened my phone just to make sure there wasn’t any late-night chaos, just a quick check. I instantly regretted it. Because this is what I saw:

Nick Schifrin from NewsHour shared a real letter from Trump that was sent to several European ambassadors. It was addressed to the Prime Minister of Norway, but it was clearly meant to be shared more widely as propaganda.

In the letter, Trump blames not getting the Nobel Peace Prize as the reason he “no longer feels obligated to think purely of peace.” Then he says the U.S. should take control of Greenland because there are “no written documents” proving Denmark owns it, and because American boats landed there, too. He ends by saying that NATO “must do something for the United States.”

He’s threatening international action over hurt feelings. He’s demanding land based on ship landings from hundreds of years ago. He’s turning NATO into a weapon to feed his ego. And he’s flat out saying that peace no longer matters to him because he didn’t get a prize.

What you’re about to read is real. It was sent as an official message from the President of the United States to Jonas Gahr Støre, the Prime Minister of Norway. Just to be clear, Norway doesn’t control Greenland. That’s Denmark. And the Nobel Peace Prize isn’t awarded by heads of state. It’s decided by an independent committee. But none of that mattered to Trump. He’s just mad someone said no and didn’t give him the prize he wanted:

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now NATO should do something for the United States. The world is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT.”

This man is the president. He has nuclear codes. And this is how he thinks, through childish grudges and threats of war. He’s not just unstable. He’s dangerous, and he proved yet again why he is not fit for office.

And still, people ask: can we make it to the midterms? That’s not the question anymore. The real question is: how much damage will be done before we get there? Because the answer to Trump is not “wait it out.” The answer is pressure. Constant, focused, unrelenting pressure on Congress. Because Congress is our only real check right now, and so far, they are sitting by as he destroys not just our country, but the stability of the world. We must stay focused on demanding that Congress act to end this collapse by calling, writing, emailing, protesting, and refusing to let them normalize a single atrocity being committed.

And we do it because the Movement that Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life for is not dead. It’s still moving, still breathing, still demanding something better. Everyone deserves equality. Everyone deserves respect. Everyone deserves dignity. And no one should have to fight to be seen as fully human in their own country.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in an America that didn’t yet exist, and he gave his life trying to build it. He never lost hope for this country. And neither should we.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

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