On the third Monday of January, many of us “celebrate” MLK Day. For lots of people and organizations, this day is a day focused on service - it is considered a “day on” instead of a day off. One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous quotes is as follows: “everybody can be great because anybody can serve”. Another one of my personal favorites is: life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “what are you doing for others?”.
Service is an important and consistent aspect of my personal life and Sharp Brain Consulting exists to support organizations that serve their communities. So don’t mistake what I am going to write for a lack of focus on service. I wonder if our laser focus on service means that we are not focusing on the full legacy of Dr. King and the full scope of his work. If we look at the full scope of his work, we cannot ignore the work to achieve full equity for African Americans.
Most of 2020 was an exceptionally difficult time for a lot of people, but I have talked to so many black people who struggled in a significant way. For many of us, the societal unrest associated with the murders of black bodies was almost too much to take - watching these murders, having conversations about race, being reminded of past traumatic experiences was all just a lot. When I saw the feedback from people who were viscerally angry about “Black Lives Matter”, it made me sad. All of this reminded me that even though there has been progress for black folks, there is still much work to do.
If we want to fully honor MLK’s legacy, we should certainly engage in service, but we have to do more than that. We have to continue to fight like hell for equity in our communities and organizations. We have to continue to have brave and real conversations about race and inequities. White folks have to use their privilege to demand change and create space for black and brown voices. Black folks have to engage in self-care and self-love because this work is hard and sometimes painful.