This year, as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it’s essential to recognize the profound impact and enduring legacy of Dr. King in our workplaces. RippleMatch presents a curated list of valuable resources designed to help you and your colleagues meaningfully observe this day that should go beyond simply having a day off.
Books
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. By Clayborne Carson
In The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., Carson pieces together King’s published and unpublished work with several of his previously published autobiographies. This compilation offers a first-person account of Dr. King’s life from his birth in Atlanta to his social awakening from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
Strength to Love By Martin Luther King Jr.
Coretta Scott King once said, “If there is one book Martin Luther King, Jr. has written that people consistently tell me has changed their lives, it is Strength to Love.” She believes this book best explains King’s central philosophy of nonviolence and his belief in a divine, loving presence that binds all life.
Podcasts
Code Switch: “The Road To The Promised Land, 50 Years Later”
This podcast centers around two stories about the aftermath of Dr King’s death. The first takes us to Memphis to remember King’s final days. The second brings us to Oakland, Calif., where King’s assassination “transformed the position of the Black Panther Party overnight.”
Throughline: “Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington”
This informative podcast is essentially a much needed history lesson on Bayard Rustin, who was one of the most consequential architects of the civil rights movement you may never have heard of. Rustin imagined how nonviolent civil resistance could be used to dismantle segregation in the United States. This podcast tells us how he introduced it to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
NonProfits and Educational Resources
Started in 1968 by Coretta Scott King and located in Atlanta, the King center is a wealth of educational resources for both students and educators. They also offer non violence training and offer educational scholarships.
Smithsonian National Museum of African American National History and Culture
Located in Washington DC, the National Museum of African American National History and Culture is an essential resource on Martin Luther King Jr. and remains open on this day while many other businesses close. In fact, on this day they will have a special showing of King’s original “I Have A Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
These resources are tailored to foster deeper understanding, encourage meaningful conversations, and inspire actions that resonate with the principles of equality and justice championed by Dr. King. Share these with your team to create an environment of reflection, learning, and commitment to the values that Dr. King stood for. Let’s honor this significant day by embracing diversity, promoting inclusivity, and continuing the vital conversation about civil rights in our workplaces. Join RippleMatch in keeping Dr. King’s dream alive in the heart of every workplace.
