Editor’s note: Maya Wiley is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on Jan. 20, 2025. The statement is crossposted with permission from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a member of the Coalition on Human Needs.

“Today is a complicated day in the nation’s history. We celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day of service and a day we recommit ourselves to the call to perfect this union by protecting and advancing civil and human rights. We also witness an inauguration for an administration that’s made clear it is committed to the opposite direction for the country. It equates the future of the country with the math of division over multiplication, and of subtraction over addition, and its net result is benefiting rich rulers over enriching the prosperity of working people from all ZIP codes and of all races, religions, backgrounds, abilities, and identities. Dr. King had a dream, and this is his nightmare: the rollback of the work of our civil and human rights coalition over the past 75 years.

“But while administrations change, the values of the civil and human rights community do not, and our coalition — a majority of this country — remains unwavering and focused on the core principles that have guided us for decades. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil rights coalition of more than 240 national organizations, believes the nation must honor our values and the principles upon which the civil rights movement staked its ground — inclusive and effective democracy, equal protection for all of its people, diversity as its strength, and unity as its goal. We won’t back down, and we will never abandon these enduring values. As Dr. King said, ‘A man cannot ride your back unless it is bent.’ The back of the civil rights movement remains unbent.

“What we are facing now cannot be sugar-coated. Government should work for all of us, but the incoming administration is determined to turn the machinery of government on its head to the benefit of a small, mega-wealthy, and powerful elite. At the same time, they plan to use the wheels of government to attack schools and teachers rather than invest in them; to make it harder for workers to organize rather than protect them; and to let tech companies loose to do as they will rather than ensuring guardrails that safeguard our children, our communities, and our individual rights and privacy. They seek to attack our nonpartisan elections and threaten voters rather than defend them. They plan to prioritize the needs of billionaires rather than addressing the needs of American consumers, which also means letting employers discriminate against employees based on casual cruelty and the politics of the moment — and even encouraging it. For low-income workers, people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and immigrants — and any other group the administration has targeted — who want fair wages, good jobs, control over their bodies, and the ability to go to school, or who simply want to live their lives, the incoming administration seeks to make our government a government of the wealthy few and not a government for all of us.

“Our mission is grounded in the belief that an America as good in practice as it is in promise   requires sustained effort and unwavering commitment to civil rights and equal justice for all. We have seen the corrosive effects of policies that divide us along racial, religious, economic, gender, and ideological lines, and we must counter these with a call for unity and equal opportunity.

“We march on to ensure that every voice is heard in our democracy. Voting rights are not just a privilege but a fundamental component of citizenship. We demand that our electoral processes be protected, accessible, and equitable, allowing all people to feel empowered and represented. To serve our democracy, we must ensure that the census has the support it needs so that everyone is counted and communities get the political representation and resources they deserve. We march on to ensure a truly ethical and uncaptured Supreme Court of the United States and a diverse, fair, and independent judiciary — and that from top to bottom our federal judicial system is ethical, accountable, and delivers equal justice for all.

“We remain firm in our belief that our nation’s diversity is our strength. People of all races, including people of color, immigrants, and refugees, are integral to the nation’s fabric, and we march on for their rights, for humane policies, and for keeping families together. We reject efforts to turn our civil rights laws on their head — allowing hate and other harms to befall marginalized communities and victimizing the victims of exclusion from opportunity in education, employment, and housing instead of protecting them, as the laws intend.

“Community safety and justice must reflect dignity and respect for all. Too often, the people who need the most protection and investments instead are treated as dangerous criminals or subjected to unaccountable policing power and unfair bias in and out of courts. It’s crucial to reimagine a criminal-legal system that prioritizes prevention, fairness, accountability, and transparency. We support reforms that end discriminatory practices and ultimately create a paradigm for public safety that keeps people safe from crime, including policing that violates laws, and ensures fairness, respect, dignity, and humane treatment that our rights demand.

“Economic mobility and opportunity form the backbone of our advocacy. Dr. King made clear that we should not stand ‘for one group of people to live in superfluous, inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deafening poverty.’ We must build a shared prosperity. We can’t do that if we tolerate our elected leaders distracting us from corruption to point fingers at regular folks who just want a better life. We march on to lift all boats and close the racial and gender wealth gaps that persist, address the fair and affordable housing crisis, ensure fair pay, and uphold the right to collective bargaining. We support programs that help families put food on their tables, improve overall nutrition and health outcomes, and invest in people’s ability to climb out of poverty. Equitable access to quality education from early care to higher education must remain a national focus to ensure every child, regardless of background, has the opportunity to succeed.

“Our health care system, too, must be inclusive, ensuring we all can live long and healthy lives and get to see a doctor when we’re sick and afford medications when we need them. That means we must be willing to care and act when we see Black, Latina, Native American, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women literally dying in pursuit of being mothers. We must be willing to care and act when we see any community or group of people living without health care services in rural or urban communities. We must acknowledge the transformative power of technology and also demand its responsible use — one that protects civil rights and does not discriminate or widen existing harms and problems.

“In our 75-year history, we have never stopped fighting for an America that lives up to its ideals and is more equitable, just, free, and fair. We call on elected leaders, public officials, and people throughout the nation to join us in this enduring fight for the rights and dignity of every individual. Together, we will work toward a future where justice and opportunity are not just ideals but the lived reality for all of us. This is our commitment, our challenge, and our unwavering promise.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.