On January 17, 2022, we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. You may have seen those you know share a favorite quote on LinkedIn or news clips of people honoring the great Dr. King. Although I was not born during Dr. King's time, his impact on my life is more relevant today than ever before. "I have concluded that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak up for yourself; nobody else can speak up for you." Dr. King wrote these words of wisdom when the world needed love, hope, and dreams. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most well-known speeches worldwide and speaks of hope for a better future of which our children's children can be proud of.

I often ask myself, what are we doing today to live out his messages? No one can tell you how to celebrate Martin Luther King Day or Black History Month, but let's push ourselves to be more than just a day in January or a social media post one day out of the year or even a month in February. As we begin Black History Month, I encourage all of us to a lifelong and yearlong commitment to educating ourselves and our peers about a man who stood for not judging a person based on the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

There are many ways to celebrate Dr. King and other men and women who made powerful strides despite their outside appearances. As we begin to honor these amazing men and women in history during the month of February, let us be like Martin Luther King, a man from Atlanta, Georgia, who became one of the most visible spokesmen and leaders in the American Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Martin Luther King was not the only person making waves. A respected mathematician Dorothy Vaughan became NASA's first African American manager. No matter who you think of in African American history, a piece of their legacy lives in all of us. We all have the power to follow in their footsteps and create a world in which we are proud to live.

Happy Black History Month!