As we pause to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I want to take a moment to acknowledge that we are thankful for his courage, his vision, and his relentless commitment to justice and equality. We are parents to a daughter who is both an immigrant and a minority, and the freedom of immigrant or minority children to have a rich and full life in the country we love feels at risk. This makes me all the more grateful for Dr. King, whose impact still resonates today, not just in marches and speeches, but in the way we continue to fight for a more just and compassionate society.

One story I especially encourage you to read is “The 15 Year Battle for Martin Luther King Jr. Day” from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It shows how much persistence and determination it took to make a national holiday in Dr. King’s honor a reality. After his assassination in 1968, activists, lawmakers, and everyday Americans worked for fifteen years to get federal legislation passed and seventeen more years before all fifty states recognized the holiday. It is now not only a day of remembrance, but a call to action for all of us to live out the values Dr. King embodied, which, at their heart, were better lives for all Americans.

Reading about this history reminds us that lifting up the legacy of Dr. King wasn’t easy, and it isn’t something we can take for granted. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the article and reflect on the meaning of this day. Read the full story here: “The 15 Year Battle for Martin Luther King Jr. Day .”

And, while we are talking about a great African American, I want to also say that the National Museum of African American History & Culture is one of the most moving museums I have ever had the good luck to visit.

It was spring of 2017. I was teaching at University of Maryland Eastern Shore. I had a group of four very tall, young women volleyball players from Eastern Europe staying with us during spring break. They could not get home for the break (international flights are expensive), and so I brought them to my house because the dorms and cafeterias were closed for break. They were happy to eat all they wanted (their coach restricted their calorie intake at school) and binge Friends reruns, but I also wanted to give them some outings, and Washington, D.C. was close and is a fantastic day trip. They were all at least 8 inches taller than me, so I’m sure we looked funny the day I took them to wander around Washington, D.C. They wanted to see the Air and Space Museum, which is amazing, but which I had already been in several times, so we decided to split up for an hour or so.

The National Museum of African American History & Culture had only been open about six months, and you could only get in via an advanced reservation, which I hadn’t thought ahead enough to make, but I went to the door anyway, and asked. As I was one person only, they let me in. I was moved to tears a few times during my walk through. You (at least when I went) begin at the bottom, and move up, much as African Americans did in their history in this country.

It is a beautiful building that was built to complement the history with its form. Sadly, we have a history of slavery in this country, and lack of equality. The museum doesn’t cause that; it simply reports on it, and, as with all difficult things in any family’s past, hiding from them does not make things better. You may as well ignore an infected splinter, and expect it to heal. We have to look.

Though none of us today are involved in slavery, we are not exempt from being a part of a history that allowed it, and fought for it. I am able to still feel like a good and valuable person and be proud of America while also sitting with America’s mistakes, and I hope you are too. There is no mistake-free nation. Being mistake-free is not an attainable goal.

But I was proud to see how much the USA has done to improve itself, and proud to see how much Black people continued to strive and thrive and contribute to our nation. It would be a downright shame to visit the Smithsonian museums (all still free) and skip this incredibly beautiful one.

You no longer need a reservation, so I hope you will consider adding it to your DC must-do list.

Equality means writers of all backgrounds, education levels, income levels, gender, ethnicity, and so on, can write and publish stories, poems, and memoirs, that we, in turn, have the good luck to be able to read and enjoy. Thank you Dr. King, and all who strive for equality in the world, for your work, and your sacrifice. Our country is a better country because of your life. And our bookshelves are too.