Every Martin Luther King Day, I honor Dr. King’s legacy by watching video clips of his speeches. But it’s not just his speeches I seek out; I tap into an entire archive of black intellectuals and civil rights leaders for inspiration and guidance. Inspired, I check my e-mail for updates from social justice organizations on current battles for racial equality. Then I search for ways to volunteer and give back on this hallowed day. It’s a routine that may not be unique to many of you reading this blog post.

And it’s a routine made possible by the open Internet, and more specifically, by the principle of Net Neutrality, which allows Internet users to go anywhere they want on the Web without discrimination from Internet service providers.

But our freedom online is currently under attack by well financed telecommunications corporations that are trying to stop the FCC’s efforts to create a strong rule to protect Net Neutrality. These companies want the right to charge users according to how fast their content loads on the Web, and those who can’t pay will see their Web sites and videos load slowly or not at all. Right now, the Internet is an equal platform where all voices are recognized and no content is prioritized over other content. But without Net Neutrality, there will be no protection from corporations, and people of color will be at risk of becoming second-class digital citizens.

The civil rights movement needed the power of local radio to express opinions and organize opposition. Media access free from corporate gatekeepers was indispensable to communicating the unpopular and revolutionary message of racial equality. These gatekeepers would have blocked the message out of racism or out of simply not wanting to offend the dominant culture.

While we continue the fight to realize Dr. King’s dream of racial equality, we must not allow access to modern communications technology to be taken away. We in the justice community communicate with our members and organize for change using the Internet. Would Comcast allow that to happen if our positions hurt its corporate bottom line and it had free reign to block or degrade speech it didn’t like? I think not.

Organizers and advocates who push our society to be more just cannot depend on the goodwill of those in power to allow us to communicate our messages. We must get involved.

As we commemorate Dr. King’s legacy – which was created and pushed by youth to inspire future generations to work toward equality – we must remember their message: It is not enough to work for change; we need the means to inspire that change. A generation ago, young people across the country organized to give us a day dedicated to that message. Today our fight for justice and racial equality is also about control of the Internet: Will it belong to us or to the corporations?

Be inspired this week by MLK’s words on YouTube, and then go to SaveTheInternet.com to make sure next year we have access to do the same.