“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What are you doing for others?” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
On the third Monday in January, we celebrate the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
First, I’d like to say what is often said about holidays: this isn’t just about a day off. It’s about remembering someone who did extraordinary things.
What often doesn’t get said is that many people simply don’t get this or many other holidays off. Primary among these are emergency staff, such as police and firefighters and medical personnel.
In addition, many people, especially in the service industry, work for companies who value profits more than their workers, so holiday or not, they’ll be working. As of 2007, only 33% of employers gave their employees the day off for Monday’s holiday.
But the Dr. King holiday is different in another way. Though established in 1983 and first celebrated in 1986, there was quite a bit of struggle getting the holiday established. A number of states and politicians opposed to King’s work refused to honor it. Only in the past few years has it been celebrated nationwide.
But the King holiday does more than honor one man’s accomplishments. In 1994, the “King Holiday and Service Act” was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton. The goal was to transform the holiday into a day for volunteer service and citizen action.
Volunteerism is something to value and it can be done however one wishes. On the web site mlkday.gov, you can find projects of various sorts in communities around the nation.
If you have a community organization that needs volunteers, you can also register your project on the same site. Just send them the information and volunteers can find you.
The Corporation for National and Community Service organizes the event. Their slogan is that King Day is, “A Day On, Not a Day Off”.
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I first became acquainted with the King Day of Service in the late 1990s. I was working at a small company in the Bay Area. We were all given the day off, but not to stay at home to watch TV, but to engage in a service project of our choosing.
The 20-25 employees at our company picked among a few projects. Two others and I drove into San Francisco to provide meals for the homeless.
The experience that day was humbling. Those we served were grateful for the help and courteous and kind to each of us. Several insisted on doing some little thing to assist with the meal, perhaps as a way of maintaining their pride in the midst of needing assistance.
The group we were working for turned no one away, but it was clear that the need was far greater than their resources.
It may be that two thirds of employers are too selfish to provide a day off for the King Holiday (or are doing emergency work). But what if the third of employers who are currently doing so instead used the day as a “day on”, asking that their employees engage in a day off community service instead of leisure? What might our communities look like?
The best way to honor someone with great accomplishments is not with speeches and statues, but with real actions that embody the best of what they worked for. What better way to honor Dr. King than by doing what he did–serving the community.
We all know the state of the economy. The recovery has been painfully slow some places have hardly recovered at all. You may not think you have much to provide, but your time, hands and heart will go a long way.
That goes for Dr. King’s Monday…and every other day.
—A version of this piece appeared in the Porterville Recorder on January 12th, 2011.
Photo: Matt Lemmon/Flickr