Reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr.'s Legacy in Trump's America

It’s been nearly one year since Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. It’s also been nearly 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Friday, Donald Trump signed a proclamation commemorating this year’s Martin Luther King Day. The signing came just a day after he was reported to have gone on a racist rant against black immigrants, calling them “people from shithole countries.”

The irony of a racist president “honoring” the most iconic civil rights leader in U.S. history one day after making those comments was a vivid and disturbing reminder of just how incomplete the struggle for racial justice is in America, and how some have tried to hijack King’s legacy for their own twisted purposes.

We asked three Oakland, CA, residents to reflect on how King informs their efforts to continue their resistance in Trump’s America.

“We are the Dr. Kings of our time, right now,” Oakland business owner Nenna Joiner said. “We’re still fighting. No one is giving up.”