By Gabby Ross, NLIHC Manager, IDEAS
The third Monday of every January marks a day when the life, service, and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are honored. His vision of peace and unity is salient today. Dr. King’s fight for justice put a spotlight on the insidiousness of housing discrimination and injustice. In 1965, Dr. King and his family moved to Chicago, where he joined residents advocating for fair housing. In Chicago, he worked with residents and tenant organizers to raise awareness of discriminatory housing practices. They held mass meetings with community members, led rent strikes, and boycotted banks and businesses that were racially discriminatory. This campaign, led by tenants and residents, is known as the Chicago Freedom Movement. A pivotal point in this movement is known as “Freedom Sunday,” when over 30,000 Chicago residents convened at Soldier Field before marching to city hall to demand fairness. Marchers and demonstrators were met with violence and harassment by mobs of people who were dedicated to maintaining an unfair system. In the days following Freedom Sunday, racial attacks and mass violence were widespread. These organizing and advocacy strategies culminated in a movement towards fairer, more open housing practices and policies in Chicago through an agreement negotiated between tenants and the city.
His work for housing justice not only resonated in Chicago but across the country. Dr. King’s fight for fair housing and his work with tenants in Chicago were the foundation for the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, after his untimely death. This act is a cornerstone of Civil Rights, affirming the right to safe, accessible, and affordable housing. The rights and liberties he fought for up until his death, just shy of 60 years ago, have been targeted for removal. These reversals of civil rights protections over the past year have created an environment in which people’s civil rights can be violated more easily. In 2025, civil rights protections addressing barriers in housing, employment, education, and healthcare were diminished through direct mandates and by undermining their enforceability. These mandates erode people's ability to access fair and affordable housing. The current condition of the U.S. housing system, where housing is exceedingly unaffordable and inaccessible, will worsen as protections are minimized. The National Fair Housing Alliance’s 2025 Fair Housing Trends Report shows continued reports of discrimination based on disability, race, gender, and national origin.
Dr. King’s fight for justice, liberation, love, and community lives on through the work of organizers, advocates, community leaders, and others committed to creating a better world. In this quote, Dr. King’s work and legacy, which is centered on love and fairness, are highlighted as a reminder of the importance of community and justice.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.”
- Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., A Letter From a Birmingham Jail