01/19/2026
Today we quote Dr. King.
But too often we quote the comfortable parts.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King was explicit about what most impeded justice. It is not the extremists alone, but white moderates who preferred “order” over justice, who urged patience, who believed the timing of freedom could be negotiated.
Right now, ICE is terrorizing communities across this country, including our workplaces. And it is convenient to act as if this is “politics” and therefore somehow separate from work.
It isn’t.
Approximately 70% of the U.S. workforce is white. Approximately 96% of Fortune 500 CEOs are white. The silence is deafening at work.
There is no clean line between “work” and “politics” when our coworkers or
the people who cook our food, deliver our packages, prepare our taxes, care for our children, and develop our software
are being detained, disappeared, and separated from their families by government action.
Silence is not neutrality. “Waiting for a better time” is not leadership.
Celebrating Dr. King while ignoring the truths he insisted we confront is not honoring his legacy.
The question, especially for those of us with power, positional authority, and safety, is not whether this belongs at work.
The question is: What are we willing to risk to live the values we honor in MLK today?
