For many Americans, this coming weekend will be a little bit longer than usual. The reason for that extended weekend, three days off from school or work, is the courage of one man to stand up for what he believed in, to the point where it cost him his life.

That man was Martin Luther King Jr. At the forefront of the American Civil Rights movement, King stood as a voice for equality and justice for African Americans who had suffered for decades under the injustices of Jim Crow-era laws.

For his efforts seeking justice and racial equality under the law, he received threatening phone calls, was stabbed (and subsequently saved by Dr. John Cordice, an Aurora native), harassed in public, had crosses burned on his lawn, was targeted by shotgun and bomb blasts at his home, subjected to FBI surveillance and slander and encouraged to kill himself by the same agency.

Ultimately, on April 4, 1968, King was shot and killed at a Memphis motel, just as he was on the eve of leading a national occupation of Washington D.C. called the Poor People’s Campaign, which sought economic justice for all of America’s poor, black or white.

For just a moment, read back through the abuses he suffered during his lifetime. Is there anything that you are so passionate about that you would risk your life and your family’s safety?

King, and the thousands upon thousands of everyday people who sought racial justice during that era, were courageous people, fighting for a cause they believed was right, no matter the cost to their own lives. Unfortunately, racial and economic injustices still persist in the United States. The work King and his contemporaries began is still far from over.

While the impact and significance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life is especially significant for many the African American community, his acts of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance in the face of injustice are an example every American can learn from.

This weekend, as you enjoy a day off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, consider where you still see injustice in your daily life. How far would you go to set it right?