Today we honor and remember Martin Luther King Jr., who tirelessly fought for a more just and fair society.

On Saturday, I attended the annual Los Angeles Labor Fed MLK Breakfast. The LA Labor Fed is a coalition of union and labor leaders who organize in support of progressive policies that will better the lives of workers across California. This year’s theme was “celebrating the ‘Twenty-Somethings’ that help build the Civil Rights and Labor Movements.”

It was an inspiring tribute to both young leaders who are currently leading movements for justice, and past leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr. himself, who was just 26 when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

As I say each year, we must match our words of gratitude to Dr. King with real action. That means calling out the fact that our economy isn’t working for too many Black families, and standing up to big corporations and special interests who are desperately trying to protect the status quo. It means recognizing that we can’t tackle the climate crisis, without prioritizing communities of color where pollution has been deliberately dumped for decades.

As we build on Dr. King’s legacy, there’s much work ahead of us—thank you for being a part of the fight for a better future.

Onward,

Katie Porter