01/20/2025
An open letter from Peak Behavioral Health’s Founder:
Today, many will share inspirational quotes from the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we will hear his vision of hope, equality, and nonviolence. But what is often left unsaid is the profound discontent and anger Dr. King harbored toward the very institutions of government and the church in the years before his assassination.
Dr. King was not naïve. He believed deeply in the power of love, reason, and peaceful protest to transform society. He thought that by demonstrating, by organizing, by appealing to our shared faith in God and our common humanity, he could convince those in power—those who oppressed, dehumanized, and discriminated—that they, too, could recognize the sanctity of human dignity. He was wrong.
Dr. King’s famous words—“People should not hate others, regardless of their race, religion, or political ideology”—ring tragically prophetic in the face of our current political climate.
Today marks the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. For many, this day feels like we’ve traveled backward in time—back to an era when segregation was the law, women were denied basic rights, and in*******al and same-sex marriages were illegal.
For so many of us, reconciling the promises of Dr. King’s vision with the harsh realities we face today feels nearly impossible.
For some, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is just a day off. For others, it’s a day of reflection, mourning, and a deep sense of gratitude. We honor Dr. King’s tenacity in fighting for equal rights, a fight that cost him his life. We grieve for the future he could have shaped, the change he could have sparked had he been allowed to lead longer. We mourn the visionary who saw hope in a world that rejected people who looked like him, and whose tireless advocacy for justice was silenced.
As a mental health organization, we are acutely aware of the social, emotional, and psychological toll that the pressure to assimilate has taken on Black people throughout history and continues to exact today. The struggle for equality, especially within the context of the civil rights movement and the rhetoric of leaders like Dr. King, is not just a fight against external oppression; it’s also a battle against the internalized racism, cultural dissonance, and trauma that have been passed down through generations. This is a complex and painful reality that we must face head-on.
Let us not shy away from our collective anger. Let it be the fire that drives us to act, to demand change, and to dismantle the systems of oppression that persist. Let us channel that anger, as Dr. King did, into concrete action that pushes us closer to the equity and justice that he so deeply believed in.
We honor Dr. King today, but we also remember that his work is far from done. It is up to us—each of us—to take up the mantle of resistance, to confront the painful truth of our history, and to ensure that his vision of justice becomes more than just a dream.
May we find the courage, the strength, and the resolve to continue the fight for a world that truly embodies the values of equality, love, and justice for all.
Sincerely,
Porsche Peak Gordin, LMFT, LADC
Founder, Executive Director
