I recently shared my thoughts on Medium about MLK Day and the correlation it holds with me personally. Today as I celebrate my own birthday I share it with another great day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I remember as a kid being told that parades were being held just for me on my birthday. In fact, I was reminded of the same just yesterday. One thing that I share with Martin Luther King Jr. is his great tenacity to love. Love in a way where you are able to serve one another. Love in a way where your faith is what leads you. Love in a way that your actions answer the most persistent and urgent questions “what are you doing for others? Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. I spent many years conflicted about the thin line between love and hate. Raised in the south, I saw hate in all shapes, sizes, and colors. As I grow older each day I have witnessed the beauty in which Martin Luther King Jr. had foretold. A time and place where we can learn to live together as brothers and sisters. In a world more divided than in Martin Luther King Jr.’s day, we look to our leaders for an example, yet we find none. Rather than following the consensus it is time we become the molder of consensus. It is time we lift each other up and hold each other in […]

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” How are you going to answer than question this year?  By coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. We can all make a difference in our own neighborhoods and communities and in turn change our cities, states and nation.  This is the twentieth anniversary since the designation of a day to serve.  We together can celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream by serving and helping others as he would have done.  By choosing to live to our potential and using ways of non-violence to improve our communities, we too can empower others and build bridges to heal the nation. By taking the day that most of us have off and transforming it into a day on in our communities we can begin a trend of service that can heal our country. So take a little time out of your busy day off, go out and serve others and in turn you will be serving yourself.  I will be heading out to share sandwiches, clothes and the gospel with the homeless in my city today.  What will you choose to do to continue the dream?   Blessings, CJ