Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahmoud Khalil

From an Alabama jail to a Louisiana ICE detention facility: Two letters, one struggle

On April 12, 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama while leading a march protesting segregation, and was jailed for violating an injunction against such demonstrations. On April 16, 1963, Rev. King wrote a letter to the American people from his jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama.¹ His letter teaches us that:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

On March 8, 2025, ICE agents forcibly removed Mahmoud Khalil from his home in New York City even though he has a green card and is a permanent US resident.² On March 18, 2025, Khalil wrote the following from an ICE detention center in Louisiana, that “my arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”³ He went on to write:

“Who has the right to have rights? It is certainly not the humans crowded into the cells here.”

“Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.”

“I have always believed that my duty is not only to liberate myself from the oppressor, but also to liberate my oppressors from their hatred and fear.”

Rev. King and Khalil, the same struggle but different eras. The two letters were written 62 years apart and address the same struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. But, while the struggles have not changed, the enemy has. Before 1980 capitalism was expanding and could afford some concessions, such as the Civil Rights Act in 1965, the Voters’ Rights Act 1965, and Title IX in 1972. Now capitalism is contracting and trying to save itself by making war, taking back hard-won rights and bullying those who dissent.

Mahmoud’s abduction is part of the fight for the hearts and minds of the American people. The fascists are weaponizing the politics of cruelty against the least powerful and most marginalized people in the country. This is fascist tactic # 1 – divert attention and attack people who are scapegoats, such a immigrants, pro-Palestinian students, Federal workers and LGBTQ+ people. The goal is to stir up fear and anger in order to keep us divided, while they steal our money and what little rights we have.

The fight to free Mahmoud and all of the other documented and undocumented people under attack by the government is our fight. We cannot hide from this fight, we cannot ignore this fight. Our lives, our children’s lives and the very existence of the planet depend on us.

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”¹ (MLK)

We cannot go back, we must go forward! United we stand, divided we fall!

“Our country and the world stand at a crossroads. Humanity has the potential for economic security and abundance. A community of the people, by the people, and for the people, where children can grow in peace, is possible as never before. Or–if we do nothing—we face increasingly unlivable conditions caused by private ownership of the wealth that human labor has created.”⁴

Let’s talk

1. https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf
2. Our March 16 RNT on Khalil kidnapping
3. Our March 27 RNT with the letter
4. League program
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATPSht6318o
6. https://revolutionary-news-today.org/fascism/ice-kidnaps-mahmoud-khalil/