Help Over Hate: MLK Weekend
Honoring Martin Luther King, Junior, through service
Grassroots groups that slumbered through the holidays have scheduled an array of meetings and actions for the upcoming weekend, which culminates with the national Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Indivisible groups, especially, have taken up the charge.
As Indivisible’s call to action notes, King taught us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” With Trump and his allies preparing to attack our rights and divide our communities, thousands will respond with action and solidarity.
"The Embrace" a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King and the 1965 Freedom Plaza 00 by artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group, courtesy of Skanska.
“Help Over Hate: MLK Weekend of Service” will both honor King’s memory and counter the Trump/MAGA agenda. Events will take place from Friday, January 17 through Monday, January 20.
Help Over Hate Weekend of Service Toolkit provides tips for successful event organizing. The guide with suggestions for service projects has inspired events around the country:
Housing Support: Partner with Habitat for Humanity or a local shelter to assist with building or repairing homes.
Reproductive Healthcare: Organize a fundraiser for your local abortion clinic or or host a donation drive for contraceptives
LGBTQ+ Support: Muncie Resists in Indiana, will host an event called Help Over Hate: Solidarity and Community Care Day, a community event in collaboration with the Muncie Queer Alliance.
Health and Wellness: Indivisible Knoxville in Tennessee invites neighbors to “Coffee for a Cause,” at a local LGBTQ+ owned business where attendees can chat with like minded people and put together winter care kits for the unhoused community.
Environmental Action: Clean up parks, plant trees, or hold a recycling drive.
Civil Rights Teach In: On Saturday January 18 from 11 am to 3 pm, Indivisible Youngstown in Ohio will host a teach-in about issues affecting vulnerable groups such as immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people and to stand against the divisive Project 2025 agenda.
Food Security: W.E. Are Indivisible, Ionia County is collecting food items for two non-profits — Portland Backpacks for Bellies and The Soup Project.
For organizers, participants, onlookers, and recipients, acts of assistance demonstrate that our communities are united and unwilling to back down in the face of hate and division.
Among the Indivisible groups that have taken up the charge is “W.E. Are Indivisible, Ionia County” a new Indivisible chapter in Michigan with a commitment to educating, empowering, and elevating democracy. W.E. embodies the spirit of Help Over Hate. According to its leaders, the intent is to “offer ways for local community members to connect, share their stories, and recognize the shared values that unite us, despite the vast divisions we face.”
W.E.’s Help Over Hate invitation sums up the purpose of this coming weekend as described in the Toolkit. “This is our moment to stand in stark contrast to MAGA’s hate-filled Project 2025 agenda—to rally together to help the people who are most likely to be targeted under Trump’s extreme agenda, uplift our communities, and grow our movement. Each act of service, no matter how small, is a declaration of hope and a commitment to the fight ahead of us. Together, we’ll show that regardless of if you live in a red, blue, or purple state, we won’t give up or give in.”
“We anticipate a turnout of approximately 15 to 30 people,” said MichelleAnne VanSlambrouck, W.E. board member. “While this may not be a large crowd, we believe that the quality of engagement is far more important than the quantity. Our primary goal is to initiate meaningful connections within the community and create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome, regardless of their political affiliations.”
The weekend event, VanSlambrouck said, is just the beginning of fostering dialogue and collaboration.
“In 2025 W.E. will continue to work in ways that prioritize long-term solutions that evolve with the needs and challenges of our community. It is no longer a Right vs. Left issue, it is Top vs. Bottom, Right vs. Wrong. It will be through our shared values, not our politics, that will drive our collective action and advocacy.”
Contributors include W.E. founder Rachel Gross and board members Victoria Klein and Michelle Anne VanSlambrouck