From Our Oakland Teen Desk: MLK’s Legacy in 2019

01.21.19
From Our Oakland Teen Desk: MLK’s Legacy in 2019 ((Photo: Yoichi Okamoto))

America celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day today.

MLK sparked a social movement in the 1960s that addressed civil rights issues in America, emphasizing the barriers people of color face.

To see how MLK’s legacy continues today, we talked to some of the students and interns at YR Media’s headquarters in Oakland, California. (YR Media provides after-school programs and internships to a diverse group of young people from around the Bay Area.)

Martin Luther King “motivates me to do better in school and do what I believe in,” Anthony, 17, said.

Given that messages of white supremacy and racism are still all around us — from Rep. Steve King’s recent comments in defense of white nationalism, to the alt right and Charlottesville, Virginia — what would MLK do if he were still alive today?

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