To honor Martin Luther King Jr., pick a cause in 2024 and run with it

On Monday, Americans take time to remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Perhaps they’ll read, in this or another newspaper, an article or column analyzing King’s life and legacy. More ambitious readers might pick up a King biography, perhaps the best-selling, widely praised “King: A Life,” by Chicagoan Jonathan Eig.

Maybe they’ll watch a King documentary, listen to a recording of one of his speeches, take part in a local commemorative event or make a trip to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis — now the National Civil Rights Museum — where King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, as he stood on the second-floor balcony outside his room.

Somber reflection and retrospectives are appropriate. King was killed because he led a movement for civil rights that was transforming America for the better. He brought the ideals of equality and justice to the forefront of America’s mind and conscience, advocating on behalf of Black Americans who had been denied both for generations.

Our country is still not perfect, but King brought it a major step closer.

We urge everyone who takes time to pay tribute to King today to do more than just read a book or attend an event. Honor King by taking action on behalf of a cause that makes America a better, fairer nation for all.

That’s what we wrote six years ago, at the 50-year mark since King’s assassination. We were inspired by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who, during a speech in Memphis as part of #MLK50 commemorations, told the audience: Pick a cause.

The same still holds true today.

Holder in 2018 made note of the need to end gun violence, poverty, and lack of economic and educational opportunity, all of which remain worthy causes. The fight is not over.

Take gun violence. Shootings and homicides declined in Chicago and nationwide last year, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2023 signed the state’s landmark ban on assault weapons. All of that is good news.

But thousands of people each year still become victims of gun violence — including, to our shame as a nation, hundreds of children and teens. The murdered leave behind grieving family and friends; the injured are likely to have lasting emotional, and perhaps physical, scars.

Keep that in mind when candidates for public office begin going door-to-door asking for your vote or host town halls to meet the public. Ask every candidate where he or she stands on the continued fight to keep illegal weapons and high-powered firearms off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and others who have no business carrying deadly weapons.

There are plenty of other causes to choose from. Some are directly in the spirit of King, such as protecting and advancing voting rights or advocating for economic justice.

States with conservative-controlled legislatures have passed dozens of laws that restrict voting rights since 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the federal Voting Rights Act. Bills such as the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act would help shore up Americans’ right to cast ballots — if lawmakers in Washington would act on Americans’ behalf. With the 2024 elections already underway — primaries and caucuses begin this week — protecting voting rights is high on the list of ways to honor King’s legacy.

So too, we think, is an increase in the federal minimum wage, which since 2009 has remained at a paltry $7.25 an hour. Many states, including Illinois, have increased the minimum wage on their own. But some workers in mostly southern states where legislators haven’t raised the state minimum wage are still working for that measly $7.25 an hour, or $15,000 a year full time. Those workers deserve a fairer shake in the 21st century economy.

Other causes may not have the same direct connection to King. But reproductive rights, a green economy, sensible immigration reform to ease the migrant crisis, affordable housing, free speech as a counter to book banning and threats to public libraries — the list goes on — are all worth fighting for, too.

Remember King today. Then tomorrow, pick a cause and run with it.

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