Your Daily Roundup for January 18th

Good morning. As the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on life in America, our team at Future Majority is tracking the latest updates: 

Today we honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:

Monday marks the 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. The iconic civil rights leader guided the country through a national reckoning on race during the civil rights era, leading to numerous monumental reforms, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We honor Dr. King and his legacy today, as the U.S. faces challenges not seen since the movement he led in the 1960s: a reckoning on race led by the Black Lives Matter movement and millions of protesters who joined in solidarity over the summer to speak out against racially-motivated police violence and broader racial injustices; the COVID-19 pandemic, which as disproportionately impacted Black Americans and people of color; and an attack on the seat of our government carried out by many avowed white supremacists to demand that the presidential candidate of their choice be installed. Dr. King’s words to live by ring true today: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

The Inauguration is two days away:

Under continued threats of violence in the aftermath of the 1/6/21 attack on the Capitol, the United States will charge forward, as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as the next President and Vice President of the United States on Wednesday, January 20th. Over the weekend, dangerous protests largely did not pan out at the 50 state capitols as right-wing organizers had hoped, as arrests continued for those involved in the insurrection at the Capitol. Currently, there are 15,000 National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C. ahead of the Inauguration as threats still loom, which is expected to grow to 25,000 by Wednesday. 

The vaccine rollout continues to falter:

As the U.S. approaches a staggering and tragic 400,000 COVID-19 related deaths, the haphazard vaccine rollout has had consequences. Total vaccinations administered is pacing far behind the Trump administration’s promise, in part because of the lack of a national strategy as well as outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s mishandling of his communications to states about the number of vaccines in reserve for states to use at their disposal. President-elect Biden is urging the federal government to go big on the vaccine rollout, including with fresh funding.