The dream speech is beautiful and inspiring and by all means enjoy it today and every day.

Please also spend time with Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the thesis of which is that sometimes civil disobedience is an appropriate response to injustice and it is the responsibility of citizens, church, and state to stand peacefully for social justice and civil rights.

When I was in jail in November for protesting The University of Iowa repeatedly platforming anti-trans speakers, I didn’t have any way of writing a letter. In my cell was me, my cellmate, our bunk beds, our scratchy blankets and our shared toilet. I composed a song in my head to pass the time but I swiftly realized when I got home that it was a terrible result of sleep deprivation that will never be shared outside of my brain.

As for how I will spend MLK Day, I am an hourly employee living in a town that does not acknowledge the holiday even though all the public school children have the day off of school so I’ll be at work.

I will honor Dr. King by showing up in solidarity with my friends from Iowa City Action for Palestine, Jewish Voices for Peace and Iowans for Palestine tomorrow at our city council meeting in support of an immediate ceasefire resolution.

How are you engaging with Dr. King’s teachings? Are you supporting the people in your lives who are speaking up against injustice? Are you speaking up yourself? What is stopping you?