If you are hearing the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and only bearing witness to his words and only his incredible words, you are doing it wrong. That's not the message he preached.
Instead, you need to strain to hear the voices that are not being amplified.
Tune out the white males who stand at the podiums, and listen for those at the margins.
Listen for the voices of trans women of color who are being brutalized.
Listen for the voices of our elderly brothers and sisters of color who are being systematically ignored.
And listen for the voice of that 12-year-old black boy who was murdered with his toy in his hand 10.5 miles up the road, barely one year ago.
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If you are swayed by the passion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today and today alone, you are doing it wrong. That's not the gift he gave us.
Instead, you need to recognize that there is absolutely nothing significant about this one Monday in January. The dream was not dreamt on one Monday in January. The mountaintop was not scaled on one Monday in January. The letter from a Birmingham jail was not written on one Monday in January.
This day needs to be outnumbered and made insignificant by all that you do the other 364 days to create meaningful change.
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And speaking of change, if you feel fulfilled after lighting a candle, if you feel satisfied standing side by side, if you feel a sense of accomplishment for showing up tonight, and if you feel content when we disperse, then you are doing it wrong. That's not at all what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tried to inspire you to do.
Instead, when you finish listening tonight, do something. Really and truly do something.
Decry injustice, loudly and disruptively.
Do not let that racist joke pass without saying something.
Acknowledge your white privilege and actually use it to do some good.
Question what it is you are being taught and most certainly question who it is that is teaching it to you.
Look critically at the racial makeup of your sorority, your fraternity, your student organization.
Be uneasy, be confused, be overwhelmed, be helpless, be angry, be frustrated, be you.
But while you're being you, figure out how to actually do something. Not just listening. Not just talking. Not just having another meeting. But figure out how to actually do something.
That is what it means to do Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day right.
And if we really want to drive out the darkness, we need to start doing it right.