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Honoring the Cause: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Honoring the Cause: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Illustration Irina Qiwi Shutterstockcom

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said this at our National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on March 31, 1968, four days before his assassination. Today we celebrate how he led our nation to change, but we also mourn the everyday injustices that are still evident in our society. Above all we’re reminded to confront complacency, and that nothing changes when we don’t act.

MLK Day is one of just 2 National Days of Service. Find out how you can participate at the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Each year, on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is observed as a “day on, not a day off.” MLK Day of Service is intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems, and move us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community.”

Years earlier on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, before a crowd of 250,000 people, the great orator said “1963 is not an end but a beginning”. You can listen to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech here.

Martin Luther King Jr addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech during the Aug 28 1963 march on Washington DC