New YorkAttorneyGeneralLetitia James delivered a passionate and defiant address on Monday, January 19, 2026, as part of a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, invoking the late civil rights leader’s legacy to rallysupport for immigrants, marginalized communities, and democratic values in the United States.
Speaking to a packed audience, James positioned herself as a frontline defender of New York against what she described as growing authoritarianism, corruption, and injustice at the federal level.
“So let us stand this day, like Dr. King, who spoke for the unheard, the masses, the stranger, the foreigner, the immigrant,”James said, drawing loud applause as she framed the civil rights struggle as an ongoing fight rather than a closed chapter of history.
She warned against efforts to undermine state authority and civil liberties, declaring that any attempt to exert power over New York would be met with firm resistance…