There was Ferguson, Eric Garner, “lye-ins,” “I can’t Breathe” and “Black Lives Matter.” Those crises were reminiscence of Watts, Detroit, Chicago and other acts of racial strife which occurred almost two generations ago.

At the height of recent events contemporary participants and observers wondered: How can a nation which prides itself as the last “best hope” fail so terribly to address its racial problems? How could such racial strife occur simultaneously when the nation was promoting democratic principles in several regions around the globe? What did the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s accomplish? Whatever happened to King’s dream?

As I reflect on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I wonder whether society does enough to take stock of the way things were, how they have changed or stalled, and what is needed to complete America’s unfinished journey towards racial equality and social justice. On this holiday, we should rededicate ourselves to become more informed about those issues.