How do Black high school and college students in Charlotte view MLK? We asked 8.

Every January, a third Monday of the month approaches, and a not-insignificant segment of the population takes pleasure in this realization: Oh yeah, I forgot — we get Martin Luther King Day off!

Which is natural, of course. Who doesn’t appreciate a three-day weekend?

Frequently lost in the shuffle is meaningful reflection of MLK and the massive contributions to the Civil Rights Movement he made in the mid-1960s, prior to his assassination in April 1968.

This might seem especially true for those who belong to Gen Z, the members of which are at least two and sometimes three generations removed from that period of time. But while today’s high school and college students are as understandably grateful for the extra day off as the rest of us who get it, make no mistake: Some of them consider King’s legacy more deeply than perhaps expected.

And not just on this Monday, but throughout the year.

In the days leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Charlotte Observer spoke with several Black high school and college students in and around Charlotte to gain a sense of how he and his messages are perceived by a generation grappling with an entirely new era of conflict, service and activism.

Islaea Anderson

20, junior at Johnson C. Smith University

“One of the biggest misunderstandings about Dr. King is that people reduce him to just a peaceful dreamer instead of recognizing him as a radical changemaker. His message was not just about kindness and harmony. It was about justice, accountability and challenging systems of oppression. … We need to not only celebrate Martin Luther King once a year; we need to celebrate him all throughout the year — along with more of our other Black activists that stood on what they stood on, for the Black community.”

Morgan Winston

18, senior at East Mecklenburg High School

“His message of service is what feels most relevant to me personally. Everything he said really pointed us towards service, and ‘what are we doing for others?’ That’s really become a big theme in my life in the past two years. And although I don’t know exactly what I want to do in the future, I know that I want to help people, and I feel like whatever we do in life, in some capacity, we should be helping people. Everybody needs to incorporate a little bit more of that into their lives.”

Ja Williams

22, junior at UNC Charlotte

“If (Martin Luther King Jr.) could see Charlotte today, I think, with the light-rail stabbing that happened, or ICE being here, things like that — I think that he would think that obviously change would need to happen. The only way for people to truly get better is through change. It’s just about trying to be better. And not everything’s going to be perfect. But if you can at least try to make things better, that’s a start. I think that’s what he would say.”

Suraya Hodges

19, sophomore at Johnson C. Smith University

“When we’re looking at what Dr. Martin Luther King did, and trying to apply it to today’s society — I think it’s hard for people to choose nonviolence, just because it takes a lot of patience, and it takes a lot of self-discipline. We grow tired of it. We grow tired of the time and the patience we have to have in order to see just a lick of change.”

Bee Betaudier

17, senior at Cato Middle College

“I do like the day off from school. I’m not going to lie. But that’s not the only thing that I like about the day, because I feel like it’s a very important time to reflect on how far the United States, in general, has come, but especially the Black community. Because Dr. King did a lot for the Black community, when you really look at things in perspective. He did a lot. So while I do appreciate the day off, I think that it’s more important to recognize that this is a day to honor somebody who really pushed the envelope for change.”

Brandon Carter

26, senior at Johnson C. Smith University

“Maybe for people who are generally outside the Black community, it very well may seem like just any old holiday. But for people of African American culture, it really is something that’s all year-round. You’re constantly learning and constantly figuring it out, because — especially for African American people — social injustice happens all year. If you have a cop shooting a young Black man in July, Martin Luther King and what he stood for will also come up then. So it’s often more than just one day, for us.”

Lenzie Scales

19, sophomore at UNC Charlotte

“When we talked about Martin Luther King in school, we talked about him in a surface-level way. And we only talked about him around Martin Luther King Day, or during Black History Month. And I think a lot of school-age children and people in high school only think of him in terms of, ‘Oh, it’s MLK Day, so we’re out of school.’ That’s it. But a lot of people don’t know the history of why we have this day, and why, originally, a lot of people had to fight for us to have this day — how, originally, a lot of states did not want to implement this day, and that in certain states (Alabama and Mississippi), even today, Martin Luther King Day coincides with the celebration of the Confederacy.”

Quinten Canty

18, senior at West Charlotte High School

“He wanted to make sure that his voice was heard and make sure that other voices were heard. And in times like these, we need to make sure that our voices are heard as well, especially with the politics, with what’s going on in the community, with ICE and stuff like that, we’ve really got to make sure that we make our voices heard. Especially as young people. Because we’re going to be the next wave of adults that come into the community. So we got to start using our voices now — or we’re never going to be heard at all.”