Like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ty Hobson-Powell shined brightly as a youth leader.
At 15, Hobson-Powell graduated from the University of Baltimore. By 17, he had a master’s degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 2020, during the 57th anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington, Hobson-Powell, then 25 years old, spoke before thousands.
Hobson-Powell, now 28, continues to speak truth to power. Similar to Dr. King, he organizes for people’s political rights and material needs as founder and executive director of Concerned Citizens of D.C.
Currently, Hobson-Powell is preparing to rally council support for legislation that mandates the creation of a District-wide character education curriculum. Despite his understandably busy schedule, he carved out time to reflect on Dr. King’s legacy.
- What are your plans for the Dr. King holiday?
A lot of people will be at the parade — including prospective politicians. Beyond the gaze of cameras, I’ll be living up to Dr. King’s service ideals at D.C. Central Kitchen and, after that, spending time with my family. Some of my service is making sure I’m pouring into my baby girl in a productive way.
- What do you take away from Dr. King’s life in your work?
There are ways to be self-enriching and selfish with this ability to captivate crowds but Dr. King used that talent in service of the people. It’s an instructive model. God gave me a gift early on to be a vessel to speak truth to power to make sure people are taken care of in this life. That’s one of the most inspirational things that I have from Dr. King.
- How were issues that Dr. King tackled similar to the issues of the day?
Back then, it was the war in Vietnam. Now, the issue is the massive funding of Israel to support the bombing of innocent Palestinians.
Back then, we were talking about the right to sit down in a restaurant and being able to afford that meal. In 2024, we’re having that same conversation.
There’s D.C. statehood and the assault on voting rights. I’d be remiss to say we haven’t had any progress. We have and we made some strides but to sit here and act like we’re not fighting for the exact same things would be a lie.
We’re fighting for our very democracy. All these things from Dr. King’s time, plus issues he couldn’t have foreseen, like whether Trump could run given his role in the insurrection.
- Is local leadership reflecting the values that Dr. King imparted? Why or why not?
There are people living out Dr. King’s values. I would also have to think about what Dr. King fought for. That was the transformation of oppressive forces to things that represent freedom and justice.
The city hasn’t done enough to show that we’re fighting against the high cost of living. I can’t help but believe that Dr. King would have something to say about our homeless population. He would say that our budget is a moral document.
We fought for the Wizards but I haven’t seen that same fight for adequate schools, affordable housing. The things that matter most.
- What do you say to youth who feel there’s nowhere to go?
I want to apologize to those youths. The city hasn’t served them properly. When young people tell me summer youth employment program wages aren’t competitive and there’s no pathway to real jobs, all I can say is sorry.
Why do they [get] abysmal lunches when some of them might be getting their only meal in school? We have more school resource officers than counselors. We have new shiny buildings but we haven’t innovated.
There are so many brilliant people who came from this school system and they sought knowledge and support outside of what was available. There are some difficulties but there’s a way. We have a wealth of programming available in the city [but] the thing is demystifying opportunities.