Jan. 15 was the date this year for the national holiday recognizing the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The day evokes some nostalgia of the past and causes us to think about the civil rights movement from a 21st-century lens.

Oak Bluffs shares a unique relationship with the Kings because Coretta, Martin and the kids spent a week or so at Villa Rose on Seaview avenue when this sprawling historic cottage was owned by Harlem labor leader Joe Overton.

Coincidentally, Villa Rose abuts the family cottage owned by the late Sen. Royal Bolling Sr. of Boston. Royal woke one morning to the sounds of children playing in the yard next door, only to discover that it was the King family. Royal and Martin were members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity when Martin was studying at Boston University.

The Kings, like so many before and after, found solace, peace and belonging in the culture of Oak Bluffs. What a legacy to continue to stand on as we think about Dr. King on what would have been his 95th birthday.

Last week, Toni Kauffman, president of the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP, greeted members and guests for the first time in three years to its Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Membership Luncheon, designed to retain and increase membership of the branch.

Dr. Lorna Chambers Andrade chronicled her 40 years of diverse NAACP experiences, focusing on supporting, reporting and researching on health-related disparities in the African-American community. Other panelists included Gretchen Tucker—Underwood and former Oak Bluffs chief of police Erik Blake. Both shared numerous stories of current injustices, incidents and problems on the Vineyard. Both underscored the need for continued vigilance in fighting for civil rights today.

The more than 85 attendees included numerous social justice organization leaders and community agencies showing a spirit of solidarity for the struggles ahead. The Vineyard is certainly not plagued by the systemic problems of injustice on the mainland but we are not immune from discrimination, prejudice and injustices. Let’s all go forward in the spirit of Lift Every Voice and Sing with the stanza that implores us all, “Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on ‘till victory is won!”

Marsh Chapel at Boston University is where the internationally-acclaimed religious leader Howard Thurman served as dean for many years. And of course this is where Dr. King studied and spoke on many occasions. On Sunday, Jan. 14 Dean Robert Hill presided over church services in honor of Dr. King at the chapel. Mr. Thurman, who graduated from Morehouse College in 1923, Dr. Benjamin Mays, who was president of Morehouse from 1940 to 1967, and Dr. King, who graduated from Morehouse in 1948, were lock step in their belief in nonviolent responses to discrimination, love, faith and the role of the average citizen in the movement.

This theme was echoed by Rev. Andrew Kimble, also a graduate of Morehouse College, who was the preacher for the service. Mr. Kimble reminded all present that everybody has a role to play in responding to real discrimination in our country.

He spoke at length about Mother Powell of Montgomery, Ala. She was an elder of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church during the bus boycott. Dr. King encouraged her, at age 72 and after many days of walking to work and thereabouts, to stop walking and take the bus or arrange other modes of transportation. And from this conversation has come that well-known answer from Mother Pollard, “My feets is tired and my soul is rested.”

If Mother Pollard can walk, then so can we. And so Mr. Kimble, Toni Kauffman and the Vineyard branch of the NAACP would urge all of us to look 2024 squarely in the face and vote, extend a helping hand of service to those in need, and protest and organize and resist all bigotry, hatred and discrimination in the forms that confront us.

And remember that the while the arch of the moral universe bends toward justice it does not move by itself!

Paradise on earth is living the Vineyard experience. Enjoy it as time is fleeting! Randall Edward Taylor, rest in peace.