Dr. Martin Luther King’s words can heal and unify us

We are at a special moment in time in our history and as a country. Moments like this should be used as opportunities to reflect, remember and recall. And there is a lot to recall.

Looking over the past nine months, it has been a unique experience. We’ve managed the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve witnessed the best of humanity yet have also seen extreme suffering. We’ve seen pain. We have seen success and lives saved. We have also witnessed the inequities that exist in the delivery of health care and the disproportionate effect that COVID has had on communities of color and minority populations. This is something we need to continue to improve.

As a society, we’ve experienced the worst of politics — the negativity, misinformation, conspiracy theories. We’ve faced hate and division. It’s often been said “we are a nation at war with itself,” which was so evident with the assault on democracy at the Capitol in Washington, DC, just a couple weeks ago. We all watched in disbelief, asking how this could happen. And it raises many questions for us all to consider: Who are we and what do we want to be? It raises questions about leadership.

Today, as we celebrate his life and legacy, we should think about what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would say if he were alive.

I think he’d say that we need to reclaim the high ground and call for unity. That we need to come together and respect another, to build that sense of community that has been very absent in recent years.

As he had done so many times during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s, Dr. King would claim that we are better moving forward as one than moving forward separately. He would talk about hope. He would talk about decency and honesty. Accountability. About truth. He would remind us how fortunate we are to live in this country despite its deficiencies, and about the possibilities that exist to ensure a promising future.

It is our obligation to make it better, to raise the bar and redeem the soul of what America is and what it should be…To bring people together. I know Dr. King would say this is not a time for spectators. Everyone plays a role.

Dr. King would talk about optimism, about not deflecting about bad times. But seeing something special way down in the future. He would say, which is one of my most memorable quotes of his, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

This is a moment of opportunity…opportunity Dr. King would want us to take, to finally rid our society of the injustices and inequities that cripple us. Certainly, this can’t be done alone, which is why I encourage you to consider his words and the impactful moments witnessed and experienced during the last year.

Keep this in your heart and minds because you too can deliver effective change. We need togetherness now more than ever. And we can start today.