I have a dream of one day making a change and impacting the world as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did. I first learned about Dr. King in elementary school while learning to speak English. I was too young to understand the full weight of being a civil rights activist, of Dr. King’s ministry, courage, and conviction. Yet even then, something in Dr. King’s messages felt familiar to the echo of my family and friends’ prayers when fighting for justice here in Columbus, Ohio, where faith and Justice were never separate ideas but part of the same calling. 

As I grew older and began working in the criminal justice field, I discovered something many people still don’t know. While Dr. King was marching in the South, Hispanic-Latino pioneers, brothers and sisters of deep faith, were marching too. Hispanic-Latinos were fasting, organizing, kneeling in prayer, and lifting their voices for the same dream: “that God’s children would be treated with dignity.” 

One of those voices was my mother, who believed that justice was about treating everyone fairly and equally. My mother was always praying, interacting with law enforcement when interpreting, assisting coworkers when they were mistreated, and guiding them through union procedures. A woman who taught me not to be silent and fight for what is right, even in her own imperfections. 

Dr. King’s dream has shaped many of us through the lens of history, and for me, as a Latina, through the lens of “mi cultura”, a culture that understands sacrifice, perseverance, and the belief that God calls us to protect the vulnerable. When I look at Dr. King’s legacy, I see a reflection of my own culture’s values, family, faith, community, justice, and the belief that love is a force stronger than fear.

Dr. King, Felicitas Méndez, Sonia Pierre, Mamá Tingó, Puerto Rican nationalists, and the Mirabal Sisters all confronted unjust legal and political systems by insisting that the government must protect human rights rather than uphold oppressive traditions or ideologies. Dr. King challenged the racist Jim Crow laws, which pushed the nation toward the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. This grounding of Dr. King’s work in a moral vision separated ethical justice from the prejudices embedded in state policy. 

Felicitas Méndez was a woman who used her platform to help end school segregation through Méndez v. Westminster, exposing how government institutions had no legitimate basis for racial hierarchy. 

Puerto Rican civil rights activists challenged the political inequality of the United States’ colonial rule, insisting that the government derive its legitimacy from the consent and rights of those it governs. Together, these civil rights leaders taught us that true justice requires drawing a firm boundary between state authority and oppressive social or political systems to defend the rights and dignity of all.

One of the most impactful aspects of Dr. King and the Hispanic-Latino pioneers who walked alongside the movement is their understanding of the church’s role in the public eye. They believed deeply in justice but honored a principle many overlook today, THE SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH FROM THE STATE AND THE SEPARATION OF THE STATE FROM THE CHURCH. 

Dr. King stood on moral ground, not partisan ground. 

Latino civil rights pioneers did the same. For example, Cesar Chavez fasted and prayed, and didn’t turn the church pulpit into an endorsement booth. Dolores Huerta organized communities and didn’t weaponize congregations to vote on Sunday mornings through her community influence. Their work was rooted in faith, not political manipulation. 

These civil rights activists understood something sacred: the church shapes hearts, and the government shapes policies. The two must not be permitted to be one power.

Yet today, we see a shift of churches across cultures and denominations that has blurred the line between the church and the state. Politicians campaign inside sanctuaries. Worship services get entangled with election cycles, and sermons sound like political speeches rather than gospel-centered messages.

When the church becomes a political platform, it loses its prophetic voice. We risk letting the government guide the church’s mission instead of making disciples; some churches intentionally make political followers. Also, because the sanctuary is a place where all people can encounter God, it becomes a place where only specific political identities feel welcome. 

Dr. King’s leadership has taught us to fight for justice without becoming an arm of the government, to speak truth to power without becoming intertwined with political parties, and to shine God’s light without dimming it with political agendas. 

Dr King’s leadership reminds us that the church’s power does not come from political alliances. It has come from Christ, from prayer, from unity, from courage, and from the willingness to stand up for what is right, even when it’s unpopular.

Today, the separation of the state and the church is something our society lacks.