It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the calendar but not throughout the land.

Personally, I have always believed this day should be remembered as Civil Rights Day due to the enormous parade of those who’ve marched for the rights of others. Dr. King was a phenomenal drum-major during his tenure and his legacy continues to inspire and urge us to not never leave the parade.

I also firmly believe we need to keep the parade’s torch freshly lit with recognizable, connected names and faces. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is that image.

Civil Rights has been a process. A very long process. I wish that, instead of acknowledging the working continuation of civil rights, we could simply celebrate the ultimate success of the movement in our rear-view mirror.

We’ve made much progress in the march of civil rights, for which Dr. King was the perfect drum-major. Yet, when we peek over our shoulders at the lengthy line of marchers, it’s but a fleck of snow that drifts downward on this cold grey morning I observe here in The Miami Valley of Ohio.

We must still cheer on this parade to make our world a better place.

We must be better servants.

If we can no longer physically march, we can march with our spirits and our hearts.

We can always make it a great day for ourselves but what matters most is that we also make it a great day for others.