3 Ways to Continue the Dream

Like many parents across our nation this weekend, I spent time with my five-year-old daughter Hannah explaining why she was out of school on Monday. For someone who loves school and thinks holidays are days for grown-ups to do nothing, I had my work cut out. We googled Dr. King and looked at pictures of some of his most historic moments, including the March on Washington. We talked about how he helped our nation understand that although we are all different, we should treat everyone with dignity and respect and love everyone. Equality is regardless of skin color, where someone lives, or according to Hannah, if your favorite color is pink or red.

?After this conversation with Hannah, I started thinking about how to keep Dr. King's dream alive. Here are three ways to continue his dream that we all can do.

1. Bring the next generation along. Growing up in Macon, GA, my grandmother often spoke to me about Dr. King, generally pointing to his portrait on her living room wall. She explained how things were for most of her life in the segregated south and how far our nation progressed, thanks to Dr. King and his allies. I encourage each of us to spend time with our nation's youth (kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews) talking about what Dr. King accomplished. We should share with them examples of how he used non-violence techniques to help our nation not judge others "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
2. Stand up. Speak out. Be an ally.?As leaders, we encounter all types of situations that require decisive responses and actions. When we experience mistreatment, hate, and disrespectful behavior toward others, we must be ready to stand up and speak out against such behavior. We must be ready to stand up and speak out in the boardroom, on the production floor, and in the grocery line. As Dr. King said, "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
3. Dedicate time to helping others. There are countless people in need in our city, state, nation, and globe. I encourage each of us to find time to volunteer and give our resources to make positive changes in the lives of others. I am proud of my coworkers volunteering their time in classrooms, at youth centers, and feeding the hungry. I admire my coworkers in Poland who are supporting their Ukrainian neighbors that have taken refuge in their nation. There are countless ways we all can contribute to helping others. Quoting Dr. King, "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."