First Lady Michele Obama and daughter Malia in Miami at the Beach on M.L.K. Day

Former First Lady Attorney Michele Obama with daughter Malia and friends in Miami at the Beach on MLK Day. (Photo: Splash)


Former First Family member Malia Obama takes a walk with Mother and friends in Miami at the beach (Photo: Splash)

Hello Kirk --

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 89 years old today.

And as people around the country and the world celebrate his legacy with acts of service, I'm thinking about something that President Obama shared with a room full of young people in New Delhi, India, last month -- something that folks might not know about Dr. King:

He was just 25 years old when he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, to serve as a pastor. And only 26 during the Montgomery bus boycott. A young man with a big dream -- to desegregate the South.

"And he started in small steps," President Obama shared that day last month.

"It was only a few years later when he won the Nobel Prize and would help to revolutionize America. But it wasn't just Dr. King -- it was all these young people around him who were just like us. They had their flaws. They had their problems. They had their doubts. But despite all those imperfections, they pressed forward anyway -- often far from the limelight -- with determination and with faith in the future, because they believed that their efforts would matter and that they would be part of this upward trajectory in our human story.

"So that's the legacy that is available to you should you choose to grab it. That should inspire each of you to keep pushing for progress in whatever field you're in and whatever communities that you live in, knowing that your efforts matter."

This, quite simply, is the very mission of the Obama Foundation: helping young people see themselves in the future of their country -- and giving them the tools and resources they need to forge their own path to shape it.

I'm proud to be doing this work alongside you -- today and every day.

- David

David Simas
CEO, Obama Foundation