This week, 50 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed on his hotel balcony in Memphis, I spent a few hours in Washington, D.C. with my friend Congressman John Lewis and a group of young men for a My Brother's Keeper Alliance roundtable. During our time together, we reflected on Dr. King’s remarkable legacy – his teachings of nonviolence, his moral urgency, the courage and strength required to stand up for what you believe in, especially when it’s hard. John and I weren’t there to lecture

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us, darkness cannot drive out darkness, and hate cannot drive out hate. Only light and love can do that. So today, let’s remember our responsibilities to march hand in hand, to stand peacefully with dignity and purpose in the ongoing fight for justice. To organize. To mobilize. To vote. To believe, no matter how far away the mountaintop might feel, it is in our capacity to change our communities and our country for the better. | Michelle Obama