DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY 2026 WE FIGHT ON!

When we think of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we often think of civil rights. But Dr. King’s vision

reached further to include environmental justice reflecting the air we breathe, the water we drink,

and the communities we call home.

Dr. King believed that all life is interrelated.

That we are bound together in what he called an inescapable network of mutuality.

Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

That belief sits at the very heart of environmental justice.

Long before environmentalism became a mainstream movement, Dr. King warned that

America’s cities were “gasping in polluted air” and “enduring contaminated water.”

As early as the 1950s, he raised concerns about nuclear testing and the survival of the

world itself linking human health, public safety, and environmental harm.

In 1968, Dr. King traveled to Memphis to stand with Black sanitation workers demanding

safer working conditions.

Their fight wasn’t only about wages.

It was about dignity.

It was about exposure to dangerous waste.

And it is now recognized as one of the first major battles against environmental racism.

Dr. King understood that injustice doesn’t live in silos.

Environmental harm, economic inequality, and health disparities are deeply connected,

and they fall hardest on marginalized communities.

At the Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Centre, we carry forward that legacy,

working at the intersection of health equity, environmental justice, and community

resilience.

As we commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are reminded that this work is

unfinished. And in Dr. King’s immortal words, “We have got some difficult days ahead.”

But, together, connected, committed, and courageous, we will continue to fight on till

victory is won!