The Anti-Imperialist Legacy of Dr. King

Today marks the 40th observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. A day when the internet is flooded with quotes, clips, graphics, and thought-pieces seeking to co-opt Dr. King’s words into agendas that water-down and white wash his legacy as an activist and Civil Rights leader. 

At a time when communities across this country are under constant attack from our own government, we find that it is imperative to remember Dr. King not only as the man who had a dream, but as the truth-teller. A man who, near the end of his life, chose to speak plainly about the American government and its propagation of war, conquest, and economic injustice.

In April of 1967 (exactly one year before his assassination in Memphis, TN), at Riverside Church in New York City, Dr. King delivered a speech titled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” In it, he named the United States as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today,” and warned that bombs dropped abroad were exploding hope at home — draining resources from schools, housing, healthcare, and the basic dignity people deserve. He spoke of militarism, racism, and capitalism as deeply intertwined, feeding one another and shaping a world where profit and power too often outweigh human life.

Dr. King knew this stance would cost him. Many allies urged him to stay quiet, to keep the focus narrow, to remain “safe.” But he believed that silence in the face of suffering, whether thousands of miles away or down the street, was itself a form of violence. He believed that true justice could not be segmented, and that liberation could not stop at national borders.

More than fifty years later, as we witness ongoing wars, displacement, surveillance, and deepening economic inequality, Dr. King’s words feel less like history and more like instruction. His call was not only to protest injustice, but to imagine — and build — a world organized around care, cooperation, and collective responsibility.

At Kinfolk, we endeavor to carry this legacy forward by telling stories that challenge dominant narratives, center community wisdom, and invite us to practice new ways of being with one another. As we begin this year together, we do so grounded in Dr. King’s reminder that peace is not passive, justice is not convenient, and hope is something we must create together.

Introducing The People’s Archive Teach-In Series

The People's Archive is a teach-in series that brings together scholars, cultural and memory workers, artists, and creative technologists to explore the intersections of memory and digital justice, collective power, reparations, and radical futures. Rooted in the belief that every community deserves to preserve its past and imagine its future, this series challenges dominant historical narratives.

Our first teach-in of the year on Tuesday February 17, 6:30pm ET, "Haiti Freed Us All", reclaims the Haitian Revolution as the spark that proved Black and Brown liberation was possible—and shows why its memory remains a beacon for freedom movements today. Taking cues from Toussaint L'Ouverture's vision of universal liberation—that armed Simón Bolívar, and inspired abolitionists from Frederick Douglass to the Maroons of Jamaica—this teach-in explores how Haiti's revolution didn't stop at their own borders or in 1804.

​Through conversations with historians, artists, and archivists, Tasha Dougé, Jessica Marie Johnson, Alain Martin, and Dread Scott, we trace how Haiti's example has fueled resistance from the Civil Rights Movement to contemporary struggles for reparations and decolonization across Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas. We explore how fragments of this revolutionary memory—hidden in oral traditions, art, and community knowledge—continue to teach us strategies for liberation.

Each session creates space for critical dialogue about how we document, preserve, and activate collective memory as a tool for justice and transformation. Through this series, participants will examine how archives can become sites of resistance, how technology can serve liberation, and how storytelling becomes a practice of reclamation and repair.

The Dreaming with the Archives at Brooklyn Bridge Park Monuments now viewable anywhere

Starting February 1, in honor of Black History Month, all of the featured monuments from our 2025 exhibition at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Dreaming with the Archives, will be available to Kinfolk App users all around the world! Explore immersive augmented reality monuments created by visionary artists Ari Melenciano, Olalekan Jeyifous, Kiyan Williams, Wangechi Mutu, Jeremiah Ojo, and Hank Willis Thomas. Each artists work celebrates the abundant flora, fauna, agriculture, skilled laborers — enslaved and free — and the sounds that make up the rich cultural history and ecology of Brooklyn and the African diaspora.

Revisit The Futures We Tend on the Kinfolk Website

Over the course of our 2025 exhibition KIN: A Festival of Memory and Imagination, visitors to the exhibition had the opportunity to contribute to a living archive of what's possible with our installation The Futures We Tend. Their voices becoming part of the futures we will tend together. Responding to the question, “What does reclaiming space look like to you?” participants joined a conversation about what community spaces can become when they exist as sites of connection, memory, and hope. We invite you to visit our website and spend time with the responses recorded and appreciate the aspirations and imaginings of the community through this radical act of cultivation.

📲 Download the Kinfolk App → Explore our AR archive

📡 Follow us on social media → Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok

💲 Donate to Kinfolk Tech Foundation → Help expand Kinfolk’s narrative offerings

Until next time,

the Kinfolk team