In 1994, eight years after Americans celebrated the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Congress made the annual federal holiday more than just a break from work. The holiday officially became a national day of service. “A day on, not a day off” is the official motto.

Congress tasked the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that helps lead service, volunteering and grant-making efforts, with making the day of service a reality.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s oldest son and daughter-in-law spoke at the 2020 D.C. Women’s March, which took place during the MLK holiday weekend. However, Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy will be better honored at the March for Life than at the Women’s March.

It’s time for black leaders to end our Stepin Fetchit approach to racial equity. Overemphasizing our failings has unified friend and foe in defining black people by poverty, pathology, and problems. While we’ll never ignore those conditions, they have never defined us.

The next narrative for black America must more accurately define us by our aspirations and contributions before noting our challenges so that our fundamental importance to the world is properly understood.