Make a Career of Humanity: Service Opportunities on MLK Jr. Day 2014
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On April 18, 1959, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed African-American high school and college students who had travelled to Washington D.C. to support the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. To the group of 26,000 he said:
Whatever career you may choose for yourself — doctor, lawyer, teacher — let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it. Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights. Make it a central part of your life.
It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you the rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man. Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.
Those words continue to inspire 54 years later, and many choose to honor them through service on MLK Day. Dr. King recognized that by investing in others and investing in communities, you make an investment in yourself. The Opportunity Index bears this out as well–those that volunteer and join groups tend to live happy, healthier and more fulfilled lives.
Here are some volunteer opportunities offered by our Coalition. Though we honor Dr. King’s life and legacy on Jan. 20, we can manifest his message by making a career of humanity, always.
- Participate in a Points of Light Sunday Supper
- Find a local service project in your area, and learn more about the MLK Day of service, at MLKDay.gov
- United Ways across the country are organizing local volunteer events.
- Search for opportunities at VolunteerMatch.org
Opportunity Nation
Opportunity Nation is a bipartisan, national campaign comprised of more than 350 cross-sector organizations working together to expand economic mobility and close the opportunity gap in America. Opportunity Nation envisions the United States as a nation where everyone – regardless of where they were born – has equal access to opportunity, economic mobility, and success at all stages of life.
