As communities across the country prepare Monday to host parades, panels and service projects for the 40th anniversary of when the federal government officially began observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the current political climate has left some feeling more fraught than festive when it comes to how to honor the slain civil rights icon. In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration fell on the MLK holiday, the Republican president has gone after diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and targeted mostly Black-led cities for federal law enforcement takeovers. Some Black advocacy groups, however, are vowing a day of resistance and rallies nationwide against what they see as an administration that governs with fear-based tactics.
