Dear Year Up,
I hope this note finds you all well during graduation season. I wanted to write as we near Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day with some reflections on our collective service to Dr. King’s legacy. Each year for the past two decades, MLK Day has served as an opportunity for us to celebrate the progress we’ve made in building a more just and equitable society, and to look with clear eyes to where we still have work to do in eradicating the persisting challenges of racism, sexism, inequality, and injustice. Every year, the accomplishments of our graduates, our staff, and our community shows me that our work for social and economic justice is bringing about a better world.
What we have accomplished in the past twenty years is truly incredible. When I had the good fortune to start Year Up, I believed we could reach 10,000 young adults and help them launch into meaningful careers. To date, we have served more than 27,000 young adults, and the ripples of their success are turning into waves. Our graduates are earning advanced degrees, taking on senior roles in leading companies, making their voices heard at every level of government, and ensuring that they are lifting while they climb. I can’t help but think of our work as a direct continuation of the marches, the actions, and the moral vision of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
At the same time, our world continues to show us that our work is just as urgent and important as it was twenty years ago. The same systems that Dr. King saw and worked against – racism, poverty, and militarism – persist and evolve, and their manifestation in our society drives inequality and injustice. These can seem too big for us to take on, too foundational in our society to eliminate. But Dr. King believed strongly that we could become greater versions of ourselves. Today, I’m reminded of one of the best‐known passages from a Dr. King sermon: “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” Our service to our mission is the work that will undo these systems, and build a better world for us all.
In that same sermon, Dr. King wrote: “You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve….You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” And today I am grateful to be surrounded by so many hearts full of grace, and so many souls generated by love. I hope you spend some time this Dr. King Day not only as a day of reflection but as a day to serve in your community.
Many thanks for all that you do in service to our young adults and be well,
Gerald