The Don Lemon Show
HOT TOPICS | Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Breakfast: What Would Dr. King Do In Trump's America?
19 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the significance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
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Yara added, you are the most just, dear God, of those that dispense justice. Let us never tire of leveraging the remembrance of this day to be tireless workers for true justice on this earth. Ya Rahman, O God, you are the most merciful of those that sow mercy. May you always make us conduits for divine mercy on this earth so we can be recipients of that mercy in the next life.
Ya Udud, you are the most loving of those that radiate love. can love on one another of those that love the movement and love justice and freedom for all our people and oh dear lord as we gather this blessed morning in the spirit of those who preached
and relentlessly organized before us, we invoke the same vision Dr. King shared while standing on the mighty mountain of sanitation workers that last night of his journey on this earth, invoking the vision of Moses on that mountain, reminding us all that no matter how dark, how dreary and how demonic,
the forces of evil are in front of us, that we must never stop casting our sacred gaze towards that promised land, towards that beloved community where all God's people, I said all God's people, from the West Side to the West Bank, from Gaza to Greenland, from old block to whole blocks, to whole cities, to whole neighborhoods, to whole nations across the world,
May one day live in dignity, honor, true and lasting peace. Amen and Ameen. Thank you. Please enjoy your breakfast. We plan to make the time up, so get your breakfast on down.
Thank you. you Thank you. you
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Chapter 2: How does Dr. King's legacy relate to current political issues?
Let me tell you guys. how much I wanted to be here. My flight was delayed three times last night. I got to the hotel at 2 a.m. There is no way that I was gonna miss being here today. If I had to drive to Chicago in the snow, I was gonna be here. It is an honor to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King. Of course, he's one of my personal heroes. I know he's one of your personal heroes as well.
And we are here to recognize the work you hear me, the work of Reverend Jesse Jackson and the PUSH Coalition that they have done to advance civil rights in Chicago and far beyond in the world. Others lead, others take from our example. I've covered and participated in many Martin Luther King events over the years, and this year it feels different. The world feels different, doesn't it?
America feels different. The world feels different. I can't think of a single time in recent history that we have needed Dr. King's words and wisdom quite as much as we do today. Yesterday, I was standing on the cold streets of Minneapolis, standing, trying to chronicle and memorialize
the civil rights violations that's happening in this country to so many people, documented, undocumented American citizens. We need to stand up. That's what Dr. King would do. When rights are stripped away, when communities are pitted against each other, and when violence is condoned by the federal government, Dr. King taught us that we don't give up.
How many of you know what Dr. King said about unjust laws? about unjust laws that you have the responsibility to fight against unjust laws this is when we make ourselves heard in this moment this is when we refuse to be silenced by those who would rather that we stay quiet which brings me to today's theme Dr. King believed that if we chose love over hate
And we fought oppression with words instead of violence that we could realize the beloved community. The beloved community wasn't a fantasy. Dr. King thought that humanity was capable of reaching a society with shared wealth, with freedom from racism, and a real commitment to peace.
This year in particular, everyone, I know it feels like we are slipping further and further away from Dr. King's vision. And I must say, the Reverend Jesse Jackson's vision as well. I often wonder what Dr. King would tell us if he were alive to see what was happening today. And I have to tell you, I don't think that he would be surprised.
He knew the challenges standing in the way of equality, that they were structural, and that if we don't address the root causes,
they'll come back again and again and again as they are now he would remind us that no matter how hard things get silence is not an option that our lives begin and end the day we become silent about the things that matter the voices of hate are loud right now and we have to become louder did you hear what i said The voices of hate are loud right now.
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Chapter 3: What actions does Dr. King inspire us to take today?
Parents must dream beyond what they can afford to push their children to something better. Everybody has a right to education and not having to worry about the financial burden that can potentially come with pursuing your education is a blessing.
I personally was able to receive the scholarship more than once and I'm forever grateful to Rainbow Kush because without this scholarship, I would not have been able to attend school. The scholarship that I received made it possible to pay off one of my loans and that's something that I'm very appreciative for.
Thank you to anybody that made the Orly Sanders Scholarship possible because you gave students the opportunity to further their academic careers and reach their personal goals and that's something that we will always remember and we will be grateful for. Being selected as a Jesse Jackson Fellow has truly changed my life.
It has vastly expanded my network, connected me with numerous amazing friends and mentors who I will lean on for years to come. Also introduced me to the company of Toyota. I never saw myself working for a car manufacturer, however, After experiencing the culture, environment, and people, I realized it was a place I could be for years to come.
You can support more of the dream by contacting PushXL. Thank you so much for joining us and helping to make a better future today and for generations to come. Thank you.
All right, everyone, take some time to eat. Enjoy your breakfast. We'll be back. Support comes from Shopify. When I started The Don Lemon Show, I was doing everything, scripts, filming, schedules, merch, branding, all of that. It was a lot, and every day felt like another decision I had to solve on my own. And that's where Shopify comes in.
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Therapy helps you understand what has been weighing you down, what you're holding onto, and what it's time to let go of. For me, it's about learning when to release what I can't control and focus on what I can. Having a neutral professional space to talk that through matters. And that's where BetterHelp comes in.
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Chapter 4: How can we build the 'beloved community' in today's society?
Now give yourselves a round of applause. Dr. King said, there's no easy way to create a world where men and women can work and live together, where each has meaning for work, a home for his or her family, and an opportunity for all children to receive the education they deserve. If such a world is to be created in our lifetime, it will only come when people of all races
colors, genders, and faiths come together. It will only be accomplished if persons of courage work to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves rather than inflicting suffering on others. It will only be done by rejecting the racism, materialism, and violence that has so scarred our history. and by working together towards a world of brotherhood, cooperation, and peace.
Those are the words of Dr. King. To our honorees, I'm especially proud to recognize you as trailblazers. My father teaches there are trailblazers and there are pathfinders. The pathfinders are remarkable for their agility in navigating uneven ground. However, the trailblazers are the one who do the hard work, the laborious work of cutting trees down, making a way when there is no obvious path.
They clear the way for the pathfinders to follow the trail. And ladies and gentlemen, the people we honor today are truly trailblazers. I'm looking forward to receiving your awards today. And to our esteemed moderator, Brother Don Lemon, thank you for guiding today's program, for the stripes you bear to tell the truth in media. Let's give Don Lemon a round of applause.
My father couldn't be here today. And for those of you who know him, you know he is chomping at the bit. to get here, you know he wants this microphone. I saw him this morning and he said, he asked if he could come and join us today. And I said, you know you came, you came. You just can't do that right now.
And I asked my mother if she was gonna come, she said, today, Yusef, I'm gonna stay with my husband. I wanna thank the mayor in a special way for honoring my mother. at last Friday's City King Breakfast. If you had the honor to hear her speak and share her words, you will know how he was able to sustain 60 years of civil rights struggle.
On this day commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King's 97th birthday, we remember his commitment, his service, his sacrifice. Dr. King was a man of God. He amassed no monetary fortune, He commanded no military force. He held no public office. Yet he helped arouse a movement that transformed America. Not only civil rights, but voting rights. Not only voting rights, but economic rights.
Not economic rights only, but a global vision for justice and peace. Through disciplined, non-violent struggle, that movement helped renew our democracy, moving this nation closer to its promise of equal justice under the law, equal opportunity for all, and towards bridging the harsh inequality that was created by 400 years of slavery and Jim Crow.
The democracy we practice today, one person, one vote, legislated equal protection, broader participation by women and others once excluded, is in many ways closer to the democracy Dr. King died for than the one he inherited from our founding fathers. For his work and his sacrifice, Dr. King
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Chapter 5: What challenges do we face in achieving equality and justice?
Corporations, universities, schools, and museums have been pressured to halt efforts at opening doors of opportunity for all. I'm doing my level best not to call his name. We've watched our, I'm not going to do it. My daddy told me not to do it. We've watched our neighborhoods and cities targeted and terrorized and immigrant communities held under military type occupation.
Thank you, Mayor Johnson, for protecting us from that. Families separated, asylum narrowed, peaceful protests met with force, dissent recasted disorder, and accountability treated as a threat. At the same time, wealth concentrates at the top. while others of us struggle for health care, for food, and for housing, for education. This destructive reaction makes us weaker, not stronger.
As the richest and most innovative and most powerful country in the history of the world, we can choose to develop systems that provide adequate housing and health care and quality education for every family if we have the political will to do so. Our people are not failing because they lack effort. In fact, many of them work two and three jobs just to make ends meet.
It is the political will that's preventing us from making ends meet, not our efforts. To move in Reverend Jackson's words, from racial battlegrounds to economic common ground, and on to more higher ground.
So once more, we're called to recommit ourselves to the vision of Dr. King and the vision of the Rainbow Push Coalition, to educate, to organize, and to galvanize a mighty nonviolent movement that demands justice, seeks peace, and moves us closer to the beloved community. We know the odds are great. We know the times are hard.
We know as Frederick Douglass taught us long ago, power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will. But we also know from Dr. King's remarkable life that love applied strategically and disciplined committed organizations are powerful, more powerful than the greatest armies, more powerful than your richest fortunes and more powerful than the profits of division and hate.
And progress towards a more perfect union is possible if we demand it. Progress towards a growing beloved community is possible if we build it. Progress towards equal justice and protection under the law is possible if we organize rather than agonize, if we choose action over faction, if we embrace service and reject servitude, and yes, as my father would say, if we keep hope alive.
And we know from Reverend Jesse Jackson and from the work of Push and the Rainbow that hope is indeed powerful. And to keep hope alive, we must act, we must commit, and we must commit to serve. Thank you very much. I'm not quite sure how to follow that. He had time this morning, huh? I'm not gonna call any names about someone who had time this morning.
I want you to make some space if you're sitting back up from the table, because I want this next person that I'm gonna introduce deserves a standing ovation and a round of applause, and the most rousing round of applause that we have ever seen in this room. Because it is my sincere pleasure to introduce the mayor of Chicago,
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Chapter 6: How do we mobilize for civil rights and social justice?
And as we celebrate this theme today, building a beloved community could not be more timely. You see, the Trump administration thought that they could overwhelmingly divide this country, but we're seeing the opposite here in Chicago. Black, brown, white, Asian, young, old, all coming together to protect Chicago.
We've seen people in cities across this country come together to protect people who are being targeted by federal law enforcement, raising funds and providing vital essentials for families who are impacted by health care loss and SNAP benefits being cut, raising their voices to show that all of us are part of this beloved community. And as I close, We know that this fight won't be easy.
As evil as this moment is, there is something that is more powerful and gracious. The Bible says that love covers the multitude of evil. And if we can just get our hearts and our treasure aligned to ensure that the interest of working people can be fulfilled, no matter where you are, where you live, or who you love, you deserve to live in a community that is fully funded, supported, and safe.
And that's what we're building in the legacy of Dr. King. So as we fight for rights and protections, just understand what our collective assignment is. It's not just to honor and remember his words. It's about the manifestation of those words being codified in policy.
And if we're going to ensure that every single person in this city is protected, we have to demand more, not just from one another, but those with means. In order to ensure that descendants of slaves, hopes and aspirations can become realized, we have the challenge that the ultra rich and these big corporations have to pay their fair share in taxes. They don't need our protection.
They got a protector. Millionaires, billionaires, and now trillionaires have to realize the hope and dreams of the words of the greatest human being to walk this planet. If militarism and poverty and racism can be eradicated, it's going to require everyone in this room to put the words into action. God bless you all. My wife is here too, by the way, you all.
Y'all give it up for the first black first lady in the history of Chicago, Stacey. God bless you all. God bless the greatest freaking city in the world, the city of Chicago. Come on, guys, a round of applause for Mayor Johnson. And the mayor is good. I mean, he recognizes his wife, so this man knows what he is doing. Happy wife? Y'all better learn from the mayor. Drop in knowledge today.
I wasn't going to talk about this, but I was talking to Santita, and you guys see me with my phone because I'm having to respond to the press today about all the hate that's coming from the MAGA bigots about me covering a rally, and they're trying to make me the face of the protest. I'm like, I'm a journalist. I'm just covering a protest.
So I'm being targeted, and it's uncomfortable, but it's appropriate that I'm here today with Rainbow Push in the warm embrace of... Of the legacy of Dr. King and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. I'm good. So thank you. I might need you to stand up for me. I might need you to do a couple posts. I might need you to say a few words about me, but I ain't going nowhere. Here I am. Amen. Happy King Day.
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Chapter 7: What role does community play in advancing Dr. King's vision?
Today, too many families are struggling to afford health care. Too many communities are still fighting for safe housing. Too many people are still searching for hope and opportunity. Too many voices are still being ignored or silenced. And the question before us today, and in the days, weeks, and months ahead, is not what would Dr. King do? We know what Dr. King would do. He would organize.
He would mobilize. He would inspire each and every one of us. He would lead from a place of compassion and love for all people and demand the same respect be given in return. So the question for us in this moment is, what will we do? What will each and every one of you here today do? when you leave this room. Because carrying the dream forward requires more than reflection.
It requires participation. It requires young people who believe their participation and their voices matter. So I'm proud this morning to welcome a young man who is truly blessed. He has been inspired by the Hatch family and the Miller family. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Hatch family and the Miller family, and who in turn has used his young voice to inspire.
Our oratorical student speaker this morning is Langston Miller, and y'all are in for a treat. Langston is nine years old. He attends Pohl Classical Elementary, and I'm so moved to welcome him to the stage.
Because there is no better way to honor Dr. King's legacy and to organize the people in this room who have carried the dream forward than to hear the words of young people inspired by the past, living in this moment and building for the future. That is how we continue Dr. King's work of building the beloved community And that is how we honor his legacy today and every day.
Ladies and gentlemen, can you help me welcome young nine-year-old Mr. Langston Miller.
Hi, my name is Langston Miller, and I'm here to cite an excerpt of a speech from one of my favorite people in history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. I say to you today, my friends,
So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream
that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream
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Chapter 8: How can we honor Dr. King's legacy through our actions?
One son died, his spirit is revisiting us. True and living, living in us. Resistance is us. That's why Rosa sat on the bus. That's why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up.
When it go down, we women that man up. They say stay down, and we stand up. Shots, we on the ground. The camera panned up. Key pointed to the mountaintop, and we ran up.
When the glory comes, it will be ours, it will be ours. Oh, one day, when the world has won, we will be so, we will be so. Oh, glory.
Glory. Glory.
Oh, glory. Now the war is not over. Victory isn't won. But we'll fight on until the finish. And then when it's all done, we'll cry glory.
Oh, glory. Oh, glory. Glory. Now the war is not over. Victory isn't won, but we'll fight on till we finish. And then when it's all done, we'll cry glory. Oh, glory. Oh, glory. Oh, glory. We'll cry glory.
Oh, glory. Yeah. We'll cry glory.
Glory. Oh, glory. Oh, glory. Glory. When the war is won. Glory. When it's all said and done.
Glory.
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