Greater than 1,000 folks gathered at Soldier Discipline in Chicago to rejoice the lifetime of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 20, 2025. The PUSH for Excellence Dr. King Breakfast continues the impactful work of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. via the group and honors the legacy of one of many world’s most celebrated and historic figures. The temper was celebratory and purposeful as this 12 months’s occasion coincided with Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration.
The breakfast marked a homecoming for keynote speaker Ben Jealous, govt director of the Sierra Membership. Jealous was 14 when he first met Jackson and adopted the civil rights chief’s path. He served because the youngest president and CEO of the NAACP from 2008 to 2013. His work on civil rights, legal justice and police accountability has helped reshape narratives nationwide. Rolling out requested Jealous concerning the significance of this 12 months’s breakfast earlier than he delivered his speech.
Jealous cites historical past in current battle
“At this time’s breakfast is critical as a result of we nonetheless have Rev. Jackson with us, and he actually is that continuity that connects us to Dr. King and even past that to Frederick Douglass,” Jealous stated. “At this time’s breakfast can be necessary as a result of tomorrow in Chicago, President Trump’s first order of enterprise is to humiliate hundreds of households, to focus on them, to tear aside family members who don’t have standing. And we all know that from the times of Frederick Douglass preventing the Chinese language Exclusion Act, to Dr. King ending the Europe-only desire for migration to this nation, {that a} key manner of dividing us has at all times been to assault immigrants and considered one of our key obligations has at all times been to face as much as defend them as a part of our human household.
“That’s what the Rainbow PUSH coalition has been about. From the times of younger Rev. Jackson organizing it. And even from Fred Hampton first placing these phrases on the market. Pulling collectively the younger patriots and the younger lords with the Black Panthers. It’s the ethos of Chicago itself. Sure. We’re one household.”
Nation at battle with beliefs
The Trump inauguration and the Dr. King vacation sharing the identical date speaks to a rustic at battle with its personal beliefs. The following 4 years will measure how far America strikes towards or away from Dr. King’s dream.
