Monday marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day and gives us a chance to remember one of the most important figures in American history. It was King that imagined a better United States, where racism would no longer exist and where everyone would be given the same opportunities in life.

In 1965, it was King who famously led the Selma to Montgomery March to the state capitol in Montgomery.

That march played a part in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting.

However, the defining moment of the movement had occurred two years earlier, when King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

The speech he gave is still known as one of the most impactful in United States history.

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” King famously said that day.

… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Thanks to King and others, the world is a more diverse and welcoming than it was half a century ago.  However, there’s still a lot of progress to be made for there to be true equality in all parts of the world.

If we all dream big like King, one day we might just get there.