Center Community for MLK Day
Tomorrow is King Day, and the beginning of the National Civil Rights Museum’s yearlong observance called “Community Over Chaos,” a special event tied to the 60th anniversary of the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Given what we know about the ways in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s religious faith influenced his activism (read more about it here), centering community in the days to come is a powerful way to live out your faith.
The theme of “Community Over Chaos” is inspired by Dr. King’s book Where Do We Go From Here?: Chaos or Community, which seems more relevant than ever. You can draw inspiration from the NCRM’s virtual King Day presentation, which you can join from the comfort of your own home. After that, we encourage you to activate your activism by committing to doing one thing each day of this week to promote community. You can decide what that looks like for you and your family, but here’s a place to start:
Acts of Kindness! Spend a day looking for opportunities to be kind to others, and take advantage of each one
Service! Spend a day volunteering, or at the very least SIGN up to volunteer on a specific day. You might even find the perfect fit in one of Desert Mission’s current missions
Common Ground! If there’s someone in your life with whom you don’t get along, your action for one day might be as simple as finding something you have in common with them
Scrolling through this very blog will also provide plenty of ideas to help you connect with your community – perhaps you’ll have enough ideas to extend your King Day observance throughout the year! Just be sure to make a plan and hold yourself accountable to it (or make a family plan and hold each other accountable). And when you need a push to keep moving through the chaos, remember Dr. King’s powerful words: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?"
How are you placing community at the forefront this MLK Day? Share your ideas with us on Facebook or Instagram.
