01/19/2026
Ten years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr addressed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, GA on August 16th, 1967. In his speech titled "Where do we go from here?", Dr King reflected on the changes sparked by the early years of the Civil Rights Movement, and also shared that "despite a decade of significant progress, the problem is far from solved ... the plant of freedom has grown only a bud and not yet a flower."
Many more years later, across our nation and indeed throughout the world, people seeking equality and justice still face "gigantic mountains of opposition" from repressive and regressive political movements that weaponize hate and employ brute force to simultaneously perpetuate social inequality and to degrade Mother Nature.
As white herbalists, we heed the call to "get this thing right." This means siding with the oppressed, speaking up against injustice, and recognizing that the "the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together." In the spirit of Dr King, we endorse nonviolent, love-backed action to solve these interrelated problems. Now more than ever, we must remember and celebrate leaders like Dr King, rather than remain silent, fearful of speaking up and acting out.
To conclude his speech, Dr King said, "...we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future." He walked with a profound faith in God. We walk with a profound faith in both the human spirit and Mother Nature to lead us toward a better future for all beings.
From: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/where-do-we-go-here
