The celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday is upon us once again. I hope everyone has an opportunity to reflect during this time on matters of race, equality and respect.  I had many thoughts and ideas ruminating in my head about what to write this year and the days just got away from me.  So my e-mail this year is not all that I had hoped.

Besides being personally important to me, as you know, I find the ways that people approach this holiday interesting.  Thankfully, Kings’ birthday has, thus far, escaped the impact of becoming a reason for store sales; yet, this day has the feel of a typical “federal” holiday. For many people it just means that the banks are closed or they have a long weekend. 

Even more troubling, I have heard more than a few people relate to the holiday as one just for Black people.  As if the movement, the struggles and the accomplishments Martin Luther King embodies benefited and impacted only African Americans. As if our entire society has not felt the impact of civil rights.

I believe this holiday, more than any other celebrates the very essence of our country’s values and promise: what we strive to be. 

MLK was pretty prolific writer and orator during his short life and he has much to say that is relevant to the world we face to day: issues not just of racism but equity, socio-economics and war.  Unfortunately, thirty-four years after King’s assassination, concerns of civil liabilities and freedom, racism and prejudice, fear and strife are very relevant in our lives.

And as I write this on Friday evening, I admit that I am tired.  King often used the word “weary” in his writings, and that word resonates with me.  As is too often the case, I get caught up in much that is ultimately not important and weighted down by my own insecurities.  As they say, it’s my own “trees” that keep me from seeing the vast forest.  

And so I write this e-mail out of selfishness, because I need to be reminded of my values and priorities. Reminded of the personal responsibility I feel to the memory of the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement whom Martin Luther King, Jr. personifies.

I believe we must remember and honor the past. We must examine and confront in the present.

I hope this Martin Luther King Day, and the days which follow, give you the occasion to do just those things.

I thank you, friends, for all the impact you make on my life and the contributions you give to the world. And I close with some of King’s words which I found especially poignant this year:

“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.  But today our survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ides, to remain vigilant, and face the challenge of change.  The large house in which we live demands that we transform this worldwide neighborhood into a worldwide brotherhood.  We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gap between our scientific progress and our moral progress.”

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. Say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things in life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he is traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain.”

Thinking of you. Love,