I don’t like the way Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is treated. There, I said it. As early as 1971, cities and states were recognizing Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday--a time to remember, celebrate, and continue his legacy. After y
ears of rejection in Congress, despite the support of Presidents like Jimmy Carter, MLK Jr. Day became a reality. By 1983, with heavy pushing from Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday--the first federal holiday to honor an African American--starting in 1986. Due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Dr. King Day is celebrated on the third Monday of every January instead of his actual birthday, January 15th. Many states resisted the holiday at first, but by 2000, all fifty states had recognized the holiday. Unfortunately, how states recognize this day is where I have a serious problem. In 2019, Dr. King’s dream is under attack. It has now been nearly 51 years since Dr. King was assassinated. Coretta Scott King died thirteen years ago. Rosa Parks passed away just month before Coretta. Many of the lawmakers and political figures have been laid to rest (make no mistake, as nearly all of King’s children are still alive, nearly all of the Little Rock Nine are living, and even civil rights figures like Jesse Jackson are still very much alive). Unfortunately, as I peer around the country, it seems as though his legacy will eventually be forgotten. Since 1994, Congress designated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national day of service. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, the “MLK Day of Service is observed as a ‘day on, not a day off. [It] 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.’” I love the idea, but very many institutions are missing the entire scope of what that community service should look like and are even totally renaming the holiday to “National Community Service Day.” They leave the MLK Jr. portion out of it and replace his “controversial” ideas of nonviolence, racial equality, advocacy, and bridge-making with, simply, community service. There is no remembrance of what he stood for. “I just need to get my service learning credit so I can graduate,” Often, I hear this as I walk around our campus. I think some of us have missed the target. Here at Southern, we have a prime opportunity to do more than embark on a mad rush to do, solely, community service. Atlanta, the home of the King Center, is just two hours away. Montgomery, home of the Civil Rights Memorial Center and so much more, is three hours away. Birmingham, the site of 16th Street Baptist Church where four Black girls were killed by Klansmen, is two hours away. Memphis, home of the National Civil Rights Museum and Dr. King’s assassination, is 5 hours away. There are opportunities to learn more about King and the Civil Rights Movement, especially in the Deep South. We must take advantage of these opportunities, knowing the volatile history and perception of our institution. There is an indoctrination that must happen. We could be the leading institution who believes not only in community service like everyone else, but also the educating of the future generation. We must become King’s Dream. If that 90-year-old man were alive today, I’m sure he’d find some way to tell all of us that there is still so much work to do. First, we must learn. We must dream. We must DO. Yes, Dr. King lived a life of service. He lived a life of service to his community, but that service was in uprooting the inherently racist and social norms in a society that promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people. When Americans remember Dr. King, it should not be mistaken and equated solely with the idea of picking up trash, singing to people, or building new structures for those in need. Understand that there is absolutely nothing wrong with those things, but declaring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as “National Community Service Day” for years to come may miss the entire point of what King lived and died for. Coretta Scott King did not advocate so hard for a community service day. Stevie Wonder did not write an iconic birthday song solely for your Black friends to sing and dance to at their birthday parties. I plea with you to go research and understand why you might decide to participate in this weekend’s community service or decide to spend some time learning at various civil rights museums around you. Books are available, articles are accessible, and speeches are applicable. Coretta Scott King said it best herself: “The greatest birthday gift my husband could receive is if people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrated the day by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others." Don’t do community service if you don’t understand the dream. Don’t get on the bandwagon to do something you may not comprehend. Don’t take the day off. I pray Dr. King’s dream comes to fruition and politicians shall not damage his legacy by proclaiming the opposite of what he stood for. I pray leaders everywhere will not overwrite this day with only community service.