On Monday, January 18th, we will honor and celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His fundamental vision was to improve the quality of life for all people and specifically Black people. In order for human beings to have a better quality of life, MLK knew that Black people needed to be viewed and treated as human beings. He wanted Black people to have fair and equal access to the same things White people were awarded as a birthright. MLK wanted equality for everyone not just some.
Let us not look at Monday as another day off. Let us take a moment to honor MLK by sharing a fact about his accomplishments with someone that might not know him for anything other than leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott and giving the “I Have A Dream” speech. Tell somebody that MLK was the youngest person at the time (age 35) to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through non-violence. Post on your timeline that he donated his winnings of fifty-four thousand dollars to organizations like the NAACP, SNCC, SCLC and CORE to aid the progress of the civil rights movement. Mention to someone that he entered Morehouse College at the age of fifteen by skipping grades nine and twelve. He was an amazing human being. He has over nine hundred streets named after him in the US! In 1963 Time Magazine named Martin Luther King Jr. Man of the Year. He was the first Black person to achieve this.
I challenge you to go even one step further. Let’s not stop with remembering him on this day alone. Let’s continue to celebrate him by harnessing his compassionate spirit and mirroring his unrelenting drive to make life better for all people. Will you accept the challenge?
Happy MLK Day!
Vick Breedy
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Vick Breedy
Author . Entrepreneur . Self-Care Advocate