“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ”

If you’re not celebrating our differences and similarities today, you should be.

While I celebrate this day, I want to tell you about an incident about MLK Jr. Day that happened to me a few years ago. 

I was scheduled to start work at a new company on this day in 2008. Upon learning of this, I informed the employer that I’d be observing the holiday and wouldn’t be coming in. The response was one of shock, laughter and reluctant acceptance (due to it being a legal holiday).

When I came to work the day after, I was asked in the nicest passive-aggressive tone, “So, how did you celebrate MLK day yesterday?” I didn’t answer because I adhere to the philosophy of letting “The fool persist in his folly so that he will become wise.”

This continued every year until I left the company. I should have said something but was too scared about shaking up the status quo and being terminated. So, in the spirit of the day, with the ability to speak frankly, I’ll tell you exactly why I celebrate the holiday and you should too:

Do you observe the 4th of July? Good. You should, that’s a day to celebrate our country’s freedom from English oppression. Did this act solve all our problems? No. Some might say it created more. But it’s still an important milestone in our history.

Does Ghandi deserves your reverence? He did absolutely nothing that affected our country or  people - cultural influence aside. I bet you still give a tip of the hat to the man.

So why would you not observe the 2nd most important day in our shared history - designated to celebrate the man who helped us change our views on race and discrimination? Did MLK Jr. solve racism? No. But he certainly left us a hell of a lot better off than before. He’s America’s Ghandi. Our homegrown hero. Our underdog. So give the guy and the day at least some respect.