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Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday is an important American tradition. In doing so, we honor the man, his courage, his inspiring words, and his impact on American and world history.

But just as important is that we honor his legacy by living every day advocating for the fundamental freedoms, human rights and equal opportunity that he ultimately gave his life for.

When we think of his “I Have A Dream” speech before hundreds of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial, we should also think of the pro-democracy activists being beaten and jailed for speaking out, circulating petitions and organizing resistance movements against oppressive governments.

When we think of how far we’ve come from the days of Jim Crow, our intolerance for racism should be stiffened and call on us to speak out against its modern day incarnations in places like Cuba where many in Cuba’s pro-democracy movement are of African descent.

We remember his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”, and it should call on us to give a voice to the words being written and spoken by today’s freedom fighters and prisoners of conscience, words that can be as immortal as Dr. King’s if only we help stop them from being silenced.

At home, this occasion is a moment to reflect on the work that remains to improve opportunities in this country, particularly in providing a quality education to our youth and protecting the economic freedoms to succeed and improve one’s lot in life.

In working towards these worthy causes, we acknowledge the inspiring example of Dr. King and all the courageous individuals throughout history who never let us forget the self-evident truth that all men and women are created equal.