Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Historians across the United States are commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr., today (19 January 2026) in troubled times.

Historians are reinterpreting the Civil Rights Movement and its significance, even as civil rights and human rights are being severely eroded in the United States. Academic freedoms are under direct assault by the Trump administration.

University professors and high school teachers across the nation are confronting politicized debates about how Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement are remembered and taught. The Trump administration is implementing the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 and its far-right ideological agenda for higher education.

Meanwhile, Trumpist allies in states such as Texas, Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina have brought the Culture Wars directly into college and high school classrooms. Professors at Indiana University, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and many other research universities are facing politicized curricular restrictions and program cuts. Faculty at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin are facing outright ideological censorship of the teaching of race, racism, minority studies, ethnic studies, area studies, women and gender studies, and other fields.

The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day concert that is normally held at the Kennedy Center has been moved due to President Trump’s brazen rebranding of the center.

The New York Times reported last year on the coincidence of Inauguration Day falling on the same day as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

NPR reports on the Trump rebranding of the Kennedy Center.

The Washington Post reports on remembrances of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, D.C.

ABC 7 Chicago reports on the commemorations of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the Chicago area.

WBEZ (Chicago’s NPR station) is rebroadcasting Studs Terkel’s famous recordings of interviews with Civil Rights activists heading from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to participate in the March on Washington in 1963, where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Historian David Ikard (Vanderbilt University) was interviewed in 2023 on NPR concerning the political battle over the creation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday, which was established in 1983.

Historian Peniel Joseph (University of Texas at Austin) commented on interpreting Martin Luther King’s message and legacy on NPR.

Time Magazine published an article on teaching Civil Rights in the climate of the current “History Wars.”

Northern Illinois University published an article on the history of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Commons on campus.

Note: this post and its links are revised from my post on MLK Day in 2025.