(NewsNation) — January 15 marks the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 95th birthday.
The federally recognized holiday, which has been observed since 1986, has traditionally been a day of reflection and community gathering.
This year, Rev. Bernice King, the youngest of four children born to Dr. King and Coretta Scott King, urges people to stop using her father’s words as remnants of a fight for justice.
“Many folks who use ‘woke’ with contempt today probably would have hated Daddy when he was alive. He was very conscious and committed to eradicating what he called the Triple Evils of racism, poverty and militarism. If you’re quoting him to stop truthful teaching about him…” she wrote in a post on X.
Additionally, King challenged a transformation calling for politicians to embody the true spirit of Dr. King’s teachings. In a post on Jan. 13, she implored politicians and influencers to eradicate racism and commit to corrective justice work.
King tweeted, “Dear politicians/political influencers: When you evoke my father this (MLK Day), remember that he was resolute about eradicating racism, poverty and militarism. And about corrective justice work. Don’t just quote him. Encourage and enact policies that reflect his teachings.”
King also invited the world to read or listen to her father’s words before posting.
On Monday, she thanked her father for “lifting the power of love.”
She wrote, “Thank you for believing that we can defeat injustice without destroying each other. Thank you for your courage and compassionate action. I remember you today, on your 95th birthday. I remember you…always.”
Earlier this month, citing gun violence in the U.S., the deaths of families in Ukraine and Gaza from war, and threats from artificial intelligence, King said the world urgently needs to study and adopt her father’s philosophy of nonviolence to avoid self-destruction.
King used an address to announce events for the upcoming holiday in honor of her father to warn that humanity was at a critical juncture.
Overall, humanity was dangerously close to fulfilling her father’s prophecy that it could destroy itself through the misuse of its own instruments, she warned. But she also offered a solution.
The study and practice of her father’s philosophy of nonviolence could teach people how to live together peacefully, she said. The events the King Center has planned this year for the week leading up to the MLK holiday, including a teach-in and training seminars, are therefore centered on the theme of shifting “the cultural climate” through “Kingian nonviolence.”
King said the center also plans to honor her mother, Coretta Scott King, with a virtual exhibit later this year that will highlight her work to advance civil rights and her husband’s legacy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
