Since February is Black History Month, I have been pondering several things. The first observation that I’ve made has really bothered me for many years now, and that is that Black History Month is one month out of the year and it’s the shortest month of the year. But many observed that quite some time ago.

I think what annoys me most is that so many people think that Black History Month is only for African Americans to celebrate. I don’t think that way. I actually see it as a month that we should all celebrate. We should all participate in remembering all that the black race has had to endure and overcome.

With all that said, the remainder of this statement is primarily focused on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s efforts and speeches during the Civil Rights Movements.

In his now famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which Dr. King delivered on Aug. 28, 1963 at Washington D.C., he said, in part: “I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

While I do understand that Dr. King was asking the black race to rise up against the injustice and the prejudice that they had endured for more than a century, I sincerely believe that he was not speaking just to African Americans.

I feel that Dr. King spent his time fighting against the ubiquitous discrimination so that everyone could benefit. When he gave that famous speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, I believe, wholeheartedly, that he was asking for all humans (of all races) to come together, to not be divided but rather unified.  He was asking everyone to embrace each other in the idea of love and integration; the sheer idea that was the foundation of his suffering.

So, I feel it to be of utmost importance that we all celebrate Black History Month—not just in February, but every month. I also think there is a sense of urgency that surrounds the ideas that MLK spoke of.

Despite the fact that there are claims of plagiarism against Dr. King, especially for his “I Have a Dream” speech (which some say was plagiarized from a speech by a black preacher, Archibald Cary, at the 1952 Republican National Convention), he was a martyr nonetheless. He had a theory for what the world was supposed to be like, and he, through passive resistance (the non-violent approach), executed warfare such as this country had never seen before.

There are seven days left in this month that is supposed to celebrate the atrocities that the African American community has overcome. One week in which we, as Americans, need to look more deeply into the message that Dr. King delivered that August day in D.C.

I think that we, as human beings, need to understand precisely what it was that Dr. King was hoping to achieve through his non-violent approach, through his suffering.

We need to see that when he was speaking of the oppressed people, he wasn’t just referring to the blacks, because I don’t think that’s just what it was about. He was speaking to the poor, to the politically subjugated, to the uneducated—to anyone who hasn’t been given a chance.

He was speaking to me and you—asking us to rise up—together as one and demonstrate with love, what America really stands for. Perhaps it was more than illustrating Americanism; maybe it was about showing what it is that human beings stand for.

Dr. King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and many others died for a system that still does not exist.

They sacrificed their lives so that people could learn to love one another. And still, we live in a world where murder runs rampant and hatred is like a disease infecting the masses. Without this institute of love that the Civil Rights activists strived so hard to establish, this world is going to continue to ruin.

I’m not just speaking about racism here. I’m talking about one simple four-letter word: LOVE.  I’m talking about everyone rising up against this ludicrous system of injustice that reins over us with an iron fist. The civilization in which we live has, for so long now, socialized hatred as a way of life. I think that right now is the time to revolt and show people the power of love (sounds corny I know).

But love is this majestic thing. I never cease to be amazed by the affects that love has on the human race.

So, I think that during the remaining seven days of Black History Month, we should delve deeper into the message that Dr. King carried out. More importantly, we should learn from his example, which I believe was love.

We should all definitely celebrate Black History Month, because the African American men and women (as well as the other people of other races who fought with them) deserve salutation.

Almost 42 years after King’s death, we still have not achieved the universal system that he died for. And I think that now is a good time to start.