Illinois Public Media News

A general preview of what lies ahead in the spring legislative session as Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations. 
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The Illinois Senate returned to Springfield last week. The House returns today, and the two chambers will spend the next several months trying to address a projected $2.2 billion budget shortfall. Senate Republican Leader John Curran joins the program to highlight some goals Republican lawmakers are focusing on this session. 

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0... 
Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

The Illinois House is set to return to Springfield today — to begin the 2026 spring legislative session. Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives Emanuel “Chris” Welch joins the program to preview the session. 

The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0... 
Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

For Martin Luther King, nonviolence was an essential element of his prosecution of the Black freedom struggle. In an interview from 1957 — this after the Little Rock school crisis — King talked about why he was committed to the philosophy:

“It seems to me that there are three ways that oppressed people can deal with their oppression,” he said. “One is to rise up in open violence, in physical violence. And some persons have used that method, persons who have been oppressed. But I think the danger of that method is its futility. I feel that violence creates many more social problems than it's solved.”

But just as King thought violence was wrong, he also rejected passive acceptance of oppression: ”I think that is just as bad as violence because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”

Today we’re going to talk about what Martin Luther King called his “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” how it relates to the foundations of that philosophy as articulated by Gandhi, and how in both King’s time and today there were those who question the effectiveness of nonviolence as a tool of politics.

Last year, Brian Mackey talked about this with Columbia University political science professor Karuna Mantena. She is a scholar of Gandhi and King, and wrote a chapter in a book that came out a few years ago called To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. The chapter was called “Showdown for Nonviolence: the Theory and Practice of Nonviolent Politics.”

President Trump is trying to pause funding for child care programs in Illinois and other states led by Democrats. We’ll talk about why, how those programs work, and the effect they have in their communities.