Today, January 15, marks Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 95th birthday. In just five days, on January 20—which is also Dr. King Day—this country will witness a political regime change unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetime. The timing is deeply disturbing and ironic. Dr. King dedicated his life to justice, equality, and the fight against oppression, yet the incoming administration threatens to undo much of the progress made since his time. On a day meant to honor his legacy of unity, we are instead bracing for a shift that feels like a step backward. It’s hard not to feel the weight of his words from King’s iconic book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?.  

Dr. King’s question remains relevant today: Will we choose chaos or community? After the chaos of 2024, the answer is more urgent than ever. Last year was the year of chaos, 2025 must be the year of community.  

Let’s be honest, 2024 was exhausting. It felt like our very right to exist was up for debate—from cable news to social media to barbershop conversations. Whether it was the erosion of voting rights, the rise of book bans targeting Black history, or the dismantling of DEI from conservative groups. Five days from now, the political landscape will shift, and I’ve heard the anxiety firsthand. Since November, callers to my SiriusXM radio show have voiced their fears. A grandmother worries about losing her Social Security. A father wonders if his children will endure book bans in school. A friend battling chronic illness asks if they’ll still have access to healthcare. These aren’t abstract concerns—they’re real, and they’re urgent. 

So, how do we move forward? History teaches us that we have always risen to the occasion. During the Reconstruction Era, the Civil Rights Movement, and even in 2012, when Black voter turnout surpassed white turnout for the first and only time in recorded history to reelect President Barack Obama, we have proven that when we choose community, we achieve the impossible. We cannot afford to sit back and wait for the next four years to pass. We must work harder than ever. 

That said, one loss does not erase all the progress we’ve made. It’s essential to celebrate our wins because winning is a long game. As Dr. King wrote in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, “To lightly dismiss a success because it does not usher in complete order of justice is to fail to comprehend the process of achieving full victory. It underestimates the value of confrontation and dissolves the confidence born of a partial victory by which new efforts are powered.” In other words, progress may be incremental, but it is still progress. Every step forward fuels the next. 

Here are a take a few things away from this: Observe, not absorb. Anchor yourself in community, not the chaos.  

Honor and call on the great people who have paved the way before you—the blueprint is already there. This is not uncharted territory, and it is nothing we cannot overcome.  

Get your rest and recharge. Turn off the cable news, log off social media, and resist the algorithms designed to infiltrate your soul with fear, to paralyze you into inaction, and to condition you into obedience. They want you scared, but we cannot let them succeed.  

Let’s honor Dr. King by continuing his fight. Let’s love each other, protect each other, and build the future he envisioned. Together, we can make 2025 the year of community. 

Clay Cane is a SiriusXM radio host and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans From the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump.