"Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. ... Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites - polar opposites - so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (1967) 
Today is a commemoration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King like no other. Celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth and the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States, tens of thousands of Americans are spending today in service to their community and their country, giving back in service projects of all kinds. As the nation gathers today, in memory and in anticipation, in hope for the future with a keen lens from the past, we do well to draw lessons from Dr. King's words above.
Spending MLK Day, especially this one, engaging in community service is of no small significance - particularly for a country facing the challenges of a generation and in need of a new spirit of unity and sacrifice. While we are hitting the streets, we should also remember that Dr. King implored his generation to do more than spend one day in service without questioning why things are the way they are. When you are volunteering in communities facing a lack of jobs or opportunity, of good schools or clean places to play, it's important to ask -- who benefits from it being this way?
To truly challenge social and economic injustice, what is needed are concerted efforts to build movements - long-term campaigns for change that are centered around building power in underrepresented communities so that they are voiceless no more.
Dr. King knew this, of course, and led this country through a transformation that not only elected champions, not only passed laws and policies, but changed the hearts and minds and worldviews of the American people. The civil rights movement endures as our most powerful example of what a "movement" can be -- but today we see a thousand grassroots organizing efforts that together can be brought together in a new movement for change.
After Tuesday, President Obama has challenges to face that put the very fabric of our country in the balance. And as he's said throughout the campaign and the transition, he can't solve those challenges, or make good on Dr. King's dream of economic and social justice, all on his own. He's implored us to step up for our communities, and what that's going to take is long-term investment in building a broad-based movement to build power, develop leaders, push for good policies, and organize public support.
Photo by Gilkata
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