"Today our country marks the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by inaugurating a man and a movement who represent all that Dr. King stood against. I am sure that many people will attempt to misuse his words, from the National Mall to social media, but we cannot allow either the message of Dr. King or the dangers of the people coming into power today to be sanitized.
"In this moment of fear and uncertainty, of understandable mistrust of our leaders and many of our fellow Americans, I turn to the philosophies of Dr. King, and the need for action, and agitation, and perhaps most importantly, solidarity.
"When Brazil elected a dictator, a term used by the incoming president to describe himself; the opposition adopted a cry of ‘Ninguém solta a mão de ninguém’ – or, ‘No one let go of anyone’s hand.’ Dr. King proclaimed that “Either we go up together, or we go down together…Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.”
"In that spirit, today and in the days and years to come, we must rededicate ourselves to service toward one another. It will be a difficult period and a daunting challenge, but as Dr. King once rallied, “Now let us begin. Now let us re-dedicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world."
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