Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is a federal holiday dedicated to one of the most iconic revolutionaries in world history; Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence protest and unflinching resolve and integrity in the face of tumultuous adversity reshaped the very democracy that America was built on and came to symbolize the struggle of disenfranchised, marginalized groups all around the U.S. and the world. It has been almost fifty years since Dr. King’s death, but his words about racism, equality and acceptance still ring true to this day.

Most people, myself included until recently, don’t think of MLK Day as anything other than a holiday. We party and binge watch Netflix and go shopping to take advantage of the sales, but we don’t ever stop to reflect on the fact that so much of the joy and freedom in our lives stems directly from the heartache and pain in Dr. King’s life and the lives of those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement.

The political and social sphere of today has much in common with the world Dr. King lived in: we still have some of the highest rates of disenfranchisement in the western world, the “race issue” still threatens to divide our nation in half, and people still feel as though their voice means nothing in the grand scheme of American politics.

It is easy to tell ourselves that we haven’t made progress and that we never will. But in these times it is important to realize that the reality we are living now would most likely be beyond the wildest dreams of those who marched with King in the 1960s. Their sacrifices and strife got us to where we are now, and our actions will have consequences that will push the human race forward in the future.

If you’re still one of those people who thinks the government is rigged and that your actions don’t mean anything, I urge you to read Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” or listen to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Those were the words of a man who was beaten, jailed, and humiliated for simply demanding the respect of his country–those words changed the course of history.

At the end of the day, Dr. King was an ordinary man who decided he would use his voice to fix what he thought was wrong with the world. With enough tenacity and willpower, we can all learn to do the same.