“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said,”but the silence over that by the good people.”

Last month, on a day dedicated to the legacy of the slain civil rights icon, more than 250 people from every corner of Washington state rejected silence and instead traveled to Olympia to make their voices heard in the halls of power. In the face of a federal government seeking to gut safety net programs that millions rely on, the group of community advocates gathered for the annual MLK Lobby Day – many for the first time – to directly tell lawmakers how legislation impacts them, their families, and their greater communities.

Led by our partners at the Statewide Poverty Action Network, community members spent the morning preparing to meet with legislators through talks, demonstrations, and words of advice and encouragement from longtime advocates. By afternoon, they walked into the Capitol building sporting red scarves and purple tote bags that read “POVERTY IS A POLICY ISSUE“. 

Collectively, they urged lawmakers to invest in programs and policies that help all Washingtonians thrive by: 

• Passing progressive revenue to fund lifeline programs cut by the federal government. 

• Investing in robust social services to meet growing need. 

• Minimizing the obstacles people face to access critical support. 

For both seasoned and first-time advocates, the day was a testament that real-life experiences are frequently the most compelling information lawmakers receive in determining how to best support their communities. As one advocate put it, “Legislators are people – they live in our district. We are the experts in what we’re here to talk about. So the ability to approach them with that framework of just being able to talk to another person, human to human, is so powerful.” 

Our advocacy work doesn’t end on MLK Lobby Day! Check out Poverty Action’s 2026 Policy Agenda: It Takes a Village to see what else we’re fighting for this legislative session. 

Images by Rachael Green and Clarissa Magdich