Every year since 1986, Americans have celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His life, dedicated to civil rights, his legacy, and his hopes and dreams for society are simple and still hold true today, and a big part of honoring his legacy is togetherness.
Celebrating and honoring Dr. King’s life is an annual reminder that when we put aside our differences, we will see that we are the same in many ways. His message about equality is the guiding light we seek when things get dark, confusing, or uncomfortable. Dr. King’s life was and still is a lighthouse illuminating the pathway to equality, inclusion, and togetherness.
From our hiring practices to our approach to our partnerships and relationship with our customers, knowing that we are connected and that humankind is a kindred relationship based on kindness, we celebrate togetherness and Dr. King daily. As a people-first business, we know firsthand that it bonds us when we come together in peace, love, and harmony. When we approach everything we do from a spirit of togetherness and equality, it is undeniable that we are stronger together than divided.
This year, MLK Day is celebrated on Monday, January 20th. We can and should get behind this year’s theme as we forge ahead in the spirit of unity: “Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence365“. It’s a federal holiday and day of service, and at Credico, we see it as a day of togetherness. It’s a paid holiday for our team, and we encourage everyone to reach out to their community to seek out ways to give back.
For businesses looking to observe this day in a way that honors Dr. King’s life’s work and as a way to carry the torch of his message of equality posthumously, here are five ways we can celebrate together this MLK Day based on his own words and the hopes for the world he left behind:
Fight together
“Let us, therefore, continue our triumphal march to the realization of the American dream… for all of us today, the battle is in our hands… The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. There are no broad highways that lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions… We are still in for the season of suffering… How long? Not long. Because no lie can live forever… the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Volunteer together
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
Work together
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
Dream together
“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today, I still have a dream.”
Be together
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”
Although Dr. King is no longer here to spearhead this movement, his words and message remain with us. His legacy should and still does inspire everyone who awakens on his day to reflect on how their life and business practices promote togetherness. Today, we encourage you to ask yourself if your legacy will bring us together and celebrate what makes us a community of people who may look, walk, or talk differently from you but can come together in the many ways that unite us.
On MLK Day this year, we celebrate togetherness and the beauty in diversity. Thank you, Dr. King, for living a life devoted to humanity and the business of inclusion.