Martin Luther King’s birthday is important to our work in diversity and inclusion today. It’s important because of who Martin Luther King was, the work he did for civil rights, the impact his work had, and the legacy he left.

He and the thousands of other people that marched with him believed that all people should have the opportunity to succeed, that discrimination must end, and that major change is possible.

Civil rights laws, that included the right to vote, end of segregation in schools, lunch counters, and business were enacted as a result of the boycotts, and demonstrations he led.

However, it was more than just the laws that created change, because even with laws people were still denied entrance to schools, housing and good jobs.

Ultimately it took the ground swell of people coming together and changing the culture of segregation in the US, so that while discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia etc. still exist on many levels, they’re no longer considered the norm.

Before civil rights, in many parts of the country, amongst many people if someone committed an act of blatant racism, the reaction was, “so what!”   Now you hear most people get defensive, because public opinion doesn’t support discrimination the same way.

Every year at this time, the media rightfully recalls the March on Washington in 1963, which was the largest civil rights march at that time.

I’m proud to say that I was one of the marchers. Although I was only 13 at the time, and didn’t understand the politics, I understood how wrong discrimination was. I went on the March because many of my friends and their parents were going. I went on the March because I was angry that some of my friends wouldn’t have been allowed in the same restaurants, schools and other places if we lived in the south, and I went because at the time I wanted to see Washington DC.

But when I left the March I knew on a visceral level that a big change was coming, and that I wanted to be part of that change.

I saw people of all colors marching, chanting and listening. I saw people of different, ages, religions, genders and from all over the country sharing a profound experience, and I knew that I had a lot to learn, and that I had to keep learning if I was going to be part of that change,

I saw people being welcomed no matter what they looked like, I saw people talking to people with whom they might never have otherwise come in contact, I saw thousands of people on all sides of the street waving when the buses bringing more people rolled in, and I could feel the collective optimism of over 250,000 people.

That march and the subsequent ones through the years inspired my work in diversity, and also caused me to become passionate about inclusion, because when people feel included in something greater than themselves, and when one person can help another person or group of people be successful, we’ll be creating better communities, workplaces, and a better world for all of us.

If you think MLK day is important and you agree with his mission, then take some time to examine your daily life, and determine whether your actions are helping us move closer to Martin Luther King’s dream, and if not, ask yourself what more can you do.

I will continue to do the same.