MLK Day Reflection: "The Dream Was Rooted in Affordability and Accessibility"

By Antjuan Seawright, Columnist “In the United States of America, we spend almost ten billion dollars a year to store the surplus food that we have in the nation. And I say to myself as I look at these conditions, ‘I know where we can store that food free of charge, in the wrinkled stomachs of hungry men and women and children of God all over the world.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Spelman College, 1960 With everything happening in our country right now from Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela and the DOJ targeting journalists to Greenland, Iran and ICE gunning down a mother of three in Minnesota, it’s hard to think about Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of economic, social and racial justice even as we pause to celebrate his 97th birthday. Of course, that won’t stop some right wing politicians from doing their best to co-op his dream on social media while they work to whitewash history, restrict voting rights and fundamentally overturn every step we’ve made towards equality. But I’m not here to talk about the irony inherent in their bigotry. For that matter, I’m not even that interested in retaking King’s legacy with rhetorical flourish and erudite prose because while many focus on Dr. King’s poetics, they neglect his simple practicality. The fact is that, while much is made of the great man’s crusade against segregation, we too often forget about his campaign against poverty. We forget that the March on Washington was actually the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom So let’s get practical because, right now, the struggle for economic justice is the struggle for racial equality and when America is priced out, Black America is left out  So let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about health insurance where the premiums have more than doubled for countless Americans, including 18.2 million people in red states, because Trump refused to extend the ACA subsidies leading 1.4 million Americans to give up entirely this month alone. Or maybe we should talk about how housing costs continue to skyrocket with rent up 33%, home prices up 55% and mortgage interest rates more than doubling since the pandemic. Foreclosures are up 21%, 22 million families are having to pay a third of their income or more for housing and a recent poll reports that 87% of Americans say affordable housing is difficult if even possible to find. Power bills are up 13% since Trump took office. Grocery prices just saw their largest single month spike since 2022. We’re facing out of control heating costs this winter and it’s only getting worse. Since Trump took office: ● The price of beef is up 16.4% ● The price of coffee is up 19.8% ● The price of lettuce is up 7.3% ● Electronics prices are up 34% ● Clothing prices are up 20% ● Motor vehicle repair costs are up 11% These aren’t luxuries we’re talking about. These are basic necessities. This is putting shoes on our children’s feet and food on the table. This is about safety. This is about hunger. Depending on where you live, getting your heat turned off can be a death sentence. Half the counties in America don’t have an obgyn. Roughly half of families can’t afford a $400 emergency. There’s not a city in America where a person working full time and earning $7.25 per hour can afford a simple two bedroom apartment. Dr. King campaigned against hunger and the MAGA majority’s big ugly bill pushed the largest healthcare cut and the largest cut to SNAP in American history literally  taking the food out of kids’ mouths to give the richest 0.1% another massive tax cut. Dr. King talked about food security and they’re cutting USDA inspections of meat, poultry and even milk. Dr. King called for a guaranteed income and they won’t even raise the minimum wage. Yes, the Dr. King’s dream was to finally fill that promissory note “that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  He believed in that day where we could all “join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” But before we can get to free, we have to make our lives affordable.

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