MLK Jr.'s daughter: Americans should not 'retreat or recoil' after Trump win
Nov 25, 2024
President-elect Trump’s inauguration will be held on Jan. 20, the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Despite her opposition to the incoming president, Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said she feels the collision of the two events is a “small win.”
“I’m glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr King is still speaking to us,” King told The Independent.
Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press file
“We cannot retreat or recoil,” she added. “We have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of my father.”
King has been an outspoken critic of Trump, particularly when he has quoted her father or made comparisons between himself and the civil rights icon.
Civil rights leaders around the nation have expressed concerns around Trump’s election, and multiple organizations have planned protests around the inauguration.
On Jan. 18, two days before inauguration day, the Women's March, Planned Parenthood and the National Women's Law Center will host the People’s March on Washington.
During Trump’s inauguration, the Rev. Al Sharpton will lead another protest on the mall.
“I know a lot of people are angry right now,” King said. “But we can’t let that rot in us.”