Institute President and CEO Ryan Haygood writes in the Star Ledger:
On the other side of a period of democracy expansion that led to the election of our first black president, it follows that the pendulum would swing back seeking to undermine all progress that has been made.
The moment is certainly no more difficult than when King set his sights on Selma and built a movement, from the ground up, that made President Johnson sign the VRA.
And so this is our Selma moment.
In this difficult national moment, change will occur, as it did in Selma, from the ground up in our communities, despite the racist, xenophobic, and dangerous policies being promoted by national leaders, including President Donald Trump.
If there is a lesson for progressive people to learn from the past 53 years and today, it is that people who care about social justice cannot afford to be timid.