On this day, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must never forget the potential for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. In fact, the Civil Rights Movement is replete with examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Dr. King was a single southern preacher who changed America. Rosa Parks was an ordinary woman who was tired and refused to stand up and in the process gave thousands the strength to stand up for themselves. And when four North Carolina A&T students sat down at a Woolworth's counter in Greensboro and refused to leave, they started a movement.
All of us have the potential and ability to make a difference. I grew up the daughter of two parents who never finished high school in a Virginia coal-mining town in Virginia, yet last week I had the honor of becoming our state's first female governor. And tomorrow, Barack Obama will become the first African-American President of the United States.
Despite these accomplishments, Dr. King's dream has yet to be fully realized. Particularly in these times of economic hardship, it's important to remember that you, too, can do extraordinary things by helping a friend or neighbor in need. And that lesson - that every one of us has the ability and obligation to make a difference - is one of the most important lessons we can learn from Dr. King.