MLK Is Still Relevant Today

Leader of the March on Washington, renowned civil rights activist, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy remains influential and relevant today. With Martin Luther King Day falling on January 19, a few days after Dr. King’s birthday, students and teachers are reflecting on his contribution to the civil rights movement and the fight for equal rights across the country.

“I think we should learn from his ability to stand up to oppression and injustice,” Jeffry Flores, senior, said. “He sets a good example of how we should approach issues like racism and prejudice in modern society in a peaceful way.”

Martin Luther King Day is the only federal holiday that encourages Americans to volunteer and engage in community service, highlighting some of Dr. King’s personal values of giving back to his community.

“MLK did monumental things for our nation in his lifetime, and the least we can do is give back to our community in honor of him,” Ava Stewart, junior, said. “Some things that we could do for our community are volunteer at a service center, help clean up around town, or do something as small as helping a neighbor out. We celebrate Martin Luther King Day because we need to commemorate the efforts that he put into changing our nation for the better.”

Other students think of Martin Luther King Day as a day to advocate for equality and continue Dr. King’s mission of progressing society forward.

“We should reflect on what MLK stood for and the battles he was facing as a Black man fighting for equality in times where racism went unchecked,” Catie Bond, senior, said. “I think that we’ve made a lot of progress since the civil rights movement, thanks to activists like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, but we still see a lot of discrimination that’s normalized in everyday life. Even though there’s less separation between people based on race, there’s still a lot for us to learn from Martin Luther King.”