Monday is a holiday for most folks around the country, which means an extra day of rest and an opportunity regroup before another week hits us. But with many such holidays we are also given a day to remember something or someone of significance.

In the midst of the social unrest and division that exists in the US today, this day provides us an opportunity to pursue in purposeful ways, the vision King had for unity so clearly articulated through his I Have a Dream speech where he states,

“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr - I Have a Dream

How can we take this weekend and move closer to that vision? Well here are a few ways...

Take Some Time

Over weekend, why not take some time to learn more about King and his work. If you don't know much about Dr. King...

Get a book out from the library - If you have kids THIS is a great book you could read together over the weekend [the book is great for adults too]
Rent Selma - This powerful movie portrays some of the most poignant moments in his work including the infamous Selma to Montgomery voting rights march
Check out one of these great events going on around the city

MLK and the Future of Inclusion - at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem
Brooklyn Tribute to MLK at BAM - BAM welcomes keynote speaker Opal Tometi, a racial justice and immigrant rights activist and one of the founders of Black Lives Matter. The celebration also features performances by the Institutional Radio Choir, a gospel legend since its founding in Brooklyn more than half a century ago, and Sacred Steel band the Campbell Brothers
Songs of Spirit and Unity - A Brooklyn Music School performance
The Strength to Love, A Unity Concert - This program will include African-American spirituals and pieces by Brahms, Verdi and Handel, and will feature the Roland Hayes' song cycle "The Life of Christ"

Second though in view of King's vision and heart for unity

Think Strategically

Think about ways you can be involved in your community and invite co-workers, relatives, neighbors, parents from your kids' school to join you. Pick an opportunity that will allow you to rub shoulders with people in your neighborhood who might just have the same desires for peace.

And lastly, in view of the long weekend and thinking about what you learn, see and hear through books, movies and

Process Communally

This day provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the vision of a man who sought to unify the country in the midst of celebrating and affirming our diversity. Doing these things with people unlike us provides us with an important growing opportunity to hear how others digest and understand the human experience very differently. As you think about the event you want to go to, why not invite someone not like you or someone you know might have different ideas or a different background or ethnicity than you. Experiencing these events can provide moments where we can come to understand and appreciate one another more fully.

King said,

“Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separate”

And so this weekend what might it look like to take some time with the extra day through these community events and resources to seek to know and move closer to each other.