Valeria Maciel gets a hug from volunteer Liz Galloway after getting her new shoes and socks at Martin Luther King Jr. Early Childhood Center.
Central Green Park in Katy, TX celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.
"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”
You may not know this, but Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated by Congress as a National Day of Service.
At the heart of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches and messages was often a call to serve, to help those who need help.
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Many Houstonians are answering that call this holiday in a variety of ways, from neighborhood cleanups to feeding families in underserved communities. Some 1,200 volunteers will be at the Houston Food Bank, including groups from Shell, the Houston Astros, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Memorial Hermann, YMCA, Americorps and Girls Scouts of America.
Park cleanups may be on hold due to the area's arctic blast, but organizations are helping in other ways, too. For example, Compudopt is providing digital classes for students who might not have access to computers.
When you look at the nation's problems today, it's hard to believe that we are inherently wired to help others. More walls seem to separate us than hands extend between us. However studies show that we are born with an innate sense to help. We also are born without prejudice or hate.
University of Michigan researcher Felix Warneken spent 17 years studying toddlers and learned that kids display altruistic behaviors from a young age. “What we’ve found is kids have a spontaneous biologically based tendency to care about others,” he told the Huffington Post in 2020.
As we mature, unfortunately, some of us learn more selfish ways. Business owner Paula Whitfield is hoping to teach her sons, Myles, 10, and Robert, 13, that giving to others is the right thing to do.
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On Sunday, her children will kick off the MLK service celebration with Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston's iLead Youth Engagement Program. They will help assemble 100 bags of groceries that will be donated to Spring Woods Middle School in Spring Branch. The service project focuses on food insecurity, one of the issues King addressed in speaking about his "beloved community," which he described as a world anchored by compassion.
"They need to understand the sacrifices that have been made for them and allow them to be as privileged as they are. They need to give back and understand why we give back," Whitfield said.
"There's so much going on in the world, they need to be more connected to the issues of society and the inequities that are out there."
The MLK holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Still, despite the federal designation, some states did not recognize the holiday. In 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, which transformed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into a day dedicated to volunteer service in honor of King’s legacy. The late Atlanta Congressman John Lewis co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act.
Martin Luther King Day has been recognized in all 50 states since 2000.
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Last August, some 60 years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 250,000 people in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, thousands of people gathered again at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, to commemorate his "I Have a Dream" speech and declare that the nation has lost ground in achieving King’s dream.
That dream may never be achieved, but we must keep pushing for a better nation, said Al "Jamie" Price Jr., an attorney with offices in Houston and Beaumont who is running for Texas representative in District 22 in Beaumont. His late father, Al Price Sr., previously held the seat for 11 terms and was also a classmate of King's while at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Growing up, his father had many dinner-table discussions about Kings' ideas of service, peace, and economic freedom, Price said.
"I challenge anyone to consider Dr. King's message in today's climate. We're not at the promised land, but we have to keep looking forward," he said.
The challenge also lies in our efforts to tap into that innate sense of humanity and service that we are born with and to help our children so that they never lose it.
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