Today is Monday, January 16, 2023, Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) Day. As we mark the celebrated civil rights activist’s life and legacy today, an editorial in today’s Daily News reminds us that Dr. King was not only about advocating for racial justice and ending segregation in the United States. The editorial is written by Latoya Joyner and is titled “Dr. King’s legacy means raising the minimum wage.” The opening paragraph begins with a reminder that King’s true message was that “true racial justice goes hand in hand with economic justice,” which he brought to striking sanitation workers just weeks before he was assassinated in Memphis. He stressed that “our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality.”

Joyner’s op-ed thrust is urging New York to raise its minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026. She notes that almost half of Black workers today make less than $15 an hour, compared to 26% of white workers. She remarks that New York must honor Dr. King’s legacy by raising the minimum wage for all workers.

Today New Yorkers are faced with the gravest cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. This strikes Black women and women of color the hardest, 41% of whom make less than $15 an hour.

To achieve this, Joyner mentions the practice of “indexing” the minumum wage so that it goes up annually with the cost of living. Joyner strongly believes that workers need a raise first before this practice is actually implemented.

The chair of the Assembly Labor Committee, Joyner, then informs us that “The primary driver of price increases is not the cost of labor or raw materials, but profits, which now account for more than a third of rising costs.” She notes that many corporations have seen some of their biggest profits over the past decade, with these increases spiking, actually, during the pandemic, not shrinking. However, these record profits are not reaching their employees.

Joyner cites one example in her argument for raising the minimum wage in order to honor Dr. King’s true legacy. And that is the illustration of UPS which saw its profits soar during 2021, due to price increases and volume growth. What this greedy company did when it reached $10 billion in annual revenue is that it slashed the wages of its part-time employees who in New York struggle on about $16 an hour. Chipotle – where I will never eat – also experienced record revue in 2021 and then only raised restaurant wages to an average of $15. What the company failed to mention is that it also increased its CEO’s salary, doubling his income from $16.1 million to $38 million. Shameful!

In this environment then, executives and shareholders across various industries have reported record salaries, while the workers responsible for their success are struggling to make ends meet. Joyner then asks this question: Can we tell people to go work for a living and then watch them go broke trying, while the people at the top get even richer? “Hell no” should be the answer.

The op-ed writer says that an economic recovery for New York cannot happen without working families having the means to afford basic necessities by supporting small and local businesses. She writes, “Implementing a $21.25 indexed wage gives them the ability and security to do that now and in the future.”

Raising the minumum wage to the amount suggested, Joyner indicates, is a popular position, even, among a majority of New York voters – 89% of Democrats favor it, 82% of Independents like it, and 65% of Republicans favor it. Eighty percent of New York voters agree that workers in today’s environment need much more than $15 an hour in order to survive. To that end, Joyner is pushing legislation, together with Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos, to raise the minimum wage to $21.25. With automatic increases introduced each year after that.

By taking this crucial first step toward achieving economic equality here in New York, the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be truly embraced. Let’s hope it will be adopted here soon.

On a much sadder note, I just learned from CNN that eight people were shot at a MLK Day event in Fort Pierce, Florida, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed. This has been reported in a late-breaking news blurb online for CNN by Elizabeth Wolfe and Jamiel Lynch.

One of the shooting victims was critically injured and four other individuals were injured while trying to leave the area, public information officer Tonya Woodworth said.

The shooting broke out this evening at the Ilous Ellis Park, Woodworth said, where the community was celebrating a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day car show and “family fun day,” according to the city’s website.

The event featured a live DJ, kids activities, and an afternoon of car show judging, a flyer for the event says. Security was being provided by the sheriff’s department, apparently.

Fort Pierce is a coastal city about an hour’s drive north of West Palm Beach. We still don’t know if any suspects are in custody of if a motive for this obscenity has been determined as of yet.

This developing news story is just another bloody stain on the fabric of the country’s bent toward gun violence. This is a very stark reminder of our inability to talk things out peacefully without resorting to guns blazing. And for it to happen on such a day in honor of someone who believed in nonviolent civil disobedience is a travesty of everything the slain civil rights leader stood for.

The news of this event just infuriates me to no end. The cycle just gets repeated and repeated – with no end in sight. The story about a six-year-old shooter is still out there. Have we forgotten about this insane event so quickly and gone on to the next violent distraction?

All I can say is stay safe and be well.