Today’s video of the day shows Barack and Michelle Obama taking their first dance at the inaugural ball.

Today’s second video of the day shows President Barack Obama’s inaugural address.

Today we honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unlike other national holidays, which honor individual statesmen or aggregates of extraordinary people, MLK Day commemorates the life and legacy of a private citizen whose commitment to social justice altered the course of American history.

It is important that we use MLK Day to remember Martin Luther King for what he truly was: a radical freedom  fighter committed to telling America the truth about itself. Unfortunately, we  have reduced Dr. King to a multicultural action figure whose words are used to suit the agendas of conservatives and liberals alike. Instead of focusing on his critiques of American racism, his challenge to American imperialism, his project to eradicate global poverty, or his opposition to the war, we have allowed the image of Martin (as well as Malcom) to be hijacked by the religious and secular Right, as well as the socially conservative Left.

In order to truly honor the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., we must revive his radical spirit and revolutionary activism. For those who identify as Christians, a real engagement with King requires that we expand our moral and ethical purview beyond parochial preoccupations with abortion, stem cells, and gay marriage –which comprise a valid, not exhaustive cadre of “moral issues”– in order to critically challenge broader issues of racism, poverty, sexism, and empire. For all citizens of the world, we must deploy King’s rich moral vocabulary to challenge global injustice from the American prison industrial complex to the expansion of global capitalism.

In my mind, Martin Luther King Jr. stands as one of the greatest human beings ever to emerge in recent history. In spite, or perhaps because, of his flaws, King is the single greatest example of an ordinary human being doing extraordinary work. Let us use the fruits of his legacy to nourish and sustain us as we continue our tireless freedom struggle.

May He Rest In Peace

Here’s what’s in mine:

Notorious B.I.G. – Kick in the Door
Anthony Hamilton – Cool
Heavy D – All I Have
Jay-Z – Dig A Hole
Eric Benet – You’re the Only One
Estelle – More Than Friends
Ludacris, Jay-Z & Nas – Do It For Hip-Hop
Raphael Saadiq – Sure Hope You Mean It
The Game – One Blood
Toni Braxton – I Love Me Some Him
Jay-Z – Corporate Takeover
Ludacris & Lil Wayne – Last of a Dying Breed
Jean Grae – Evil Jeanius (The Whole Album)
Notorious B.I.G. Hypnotize