In holding his inaugural on Martin Luther King Day, President Obama is underlining his achievement as the first African-American president and the first and only to win two terms. But he is also honoring the legacy of Dr. King, without whom the phenomenon of Barack Obama would have likely been impossible. It is appropriate on this day to remember Dr. King as a liberator, as one of the activists who made the 1964 Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act possible, who was instrumental in uplifting the oppressed and obtaining justice for the wronged. And, despite the many points on which the president’s policies differ from those King would have favored, it is right to credit Obama with those measures he has implemented to expand our rights and remove oppressive practices.