Annual MLK breakfast rings with warnings about threats to democracy

Hundreds of community leaders, academics, politicians, students and clergy gathered at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on Monday for the 54th annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast.

Amid the music, accolades and awards, many speakers commented on ongoing cultural divisions and threats to voting rights as the presidential primaries are set to begin.

“As we stare down this presidential election year, all signs are that it will take every ounce of our stamina to move forward and not backward,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said.

Wu addressed the controversy emerging from her holiday celebration for elected officials of color, decrying the “viral outrage” spread by a “misinformation machine.”

"I am tired of those fearmongers and mob baiters who fan the flames and call for unity,” Wu said. "They say ‘Don't divide us,’ when they really mean, ‘Don't defy us.’”

"I am tired of those fearmongers and mob baiters who fan the flames and call for unity."

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu

“We know there are forces out there and people out there around this country who are looking to take us backwards, who are looking to take away rights and freedoms. We are not going to let that happen, not on our watch,” Gov. Maura Healey said. "This is about protecting our democracy.”

Healey also announced a new process for reopening and reassessing state procurement contracts across a range of areas — including information technology, energy and climate — to assure that contracts are awarded equitably.

“For far too long, black business owners and others have struggled to secure state and local contracts. And for too long, we've heard excuses about why that can't be changed,” Healey said. “Now is the time to advance economic justice in our state. And that starts with government.”

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley spoke about national efforts to remove Black history from school curricula, attacks on Black scholarship, and threats to voting rights.

“People very often will be laudatory about the fact that Black folks will wait in line for hours to cast a ballot. And that we have outworked and outorganized voter suppression,” Pressley said. “ It should not be that way.”

Attorney General Andrea Campbell said that King and other spiritual leaders remain an inspiration when it comes to the power of law for fighting injustice.

"We continue to experience attacks on our values of equity, equality, and freedom," Campbell said, citing assaults on democratic institutions, voting rights, affirmative action, civil rights, reproductive care, and LGBTQ rights. "Yet in the face of that historical context, our current reality, I bring a deep sense of faith into everything I do."

U.S. Senator Ed Markey took direct aim at former president Donald Trump, turning King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on its head.

“Donald Trump has a dream that one day our nation will have no more Muslims, or mosques, or Planned Parenthood, or Social Security,” Markey said. “Donald Trump and his allies do not want to see Dr. King's dream realized. They want to see Dr. King's dream crushed.”

King attended divinity school at Boston University in the 1950s, and met his wife Coretta Scott in Boston. A monumental sculpture celebrating their relationship, called “The Embrace,” was unveiled on Boston Common last year.