On Monday, the United States will celebrate the legacy of one of its greatest leaders, a man whose nonviolent approach to change should be emulated by all.

Martin Luther King Jr. preached a message of equality, freedom, tolerance, peace and unity. As a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, he courageously put his life on the line and ultimately died in the pursuit of his ideals.

King’s message should be a guiding principle in the way we treat each other. A cursory glance at the news in recent weeks and months provides ample evidence that we are failing to live by that principle. The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police — and the nationwide protests that followed — are evidence that as a nation we have a long way to go in the pursuit of racial equality.

The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol last week is evidence of a dangerously growing divide between people on different sides of the political spectrum. The events of Jan. 6 are the complete antithesis of what King stood for.

The fact that this week’s presidential inauguration requires more than 20,000 National Guard members because of potential threats is distressing.

King was among the most powerful speakers of the 20th century, from his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In some of his speeches, he evoked the poetry of Langston Hughes, including in his April 1967 speech on the Vietnam War known as “A Time to Break Silence,” which he gave a year before his death. During that speech, King quoted the 1935 poem “Let America Be America Again,” during which Hughes discusses how the America others know isn’t the same one he knows:

“O yes, I say it plain

America never was America to me

And yet I swear this oath —

America will be!”

Much like MLK, Hughes held out hope for an America that fully lived up to its ideals.

America has often been called a work in progress. Change often comes slowly. More than 50 years after King’s death, much has changed — and some has sadly stayed the same.

As long as inequality exists in our country, and until our political differences are settled solely through conversation and debate — and not violence — our job is far from done.

Let’s all honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by doing our part. We have work to do.

— NCD