Suburban leaders on how you can honor Martin Luther King's legacy

What would Martin Luther King Jr. say to us today, had he not been assassinated 50 years ago?

The minister, activist and civil rights leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 in the wake of his galvanizing "I Have a Dream" speech during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

He would have turned 89 today.

How should we honor his legacy in these tumultuous times? Here are four views:

'Remember him by looking at ourselves'

"Dr. King told us how he wanted to be remembered when he knew he probably would be killed.

"Dr. King was killed because of his strong belief in the Constitution. He was the greatest Constitutionalist ever. It asks us to perfect the imperfect.

"I think we can best remember him by looking at ourselves.

"After so many years, I'm tired of people using me and people like me to make themselves feel like they're doing something.

"If you vote for politicians who are against everything Dr. King stood for - and that happens a lot - you don't belong at a Dr. King event. You're a hypocrite.

"Buy a Trump supporter a cup of coffee and start a conversation. They don't have to agree, but take the high road.

"I think we've come a long way, but what needs to change are all the good people who hear evil, see evil, and elect to do nothing.

"The church of today is not the church of yesterday. They're silent and afraid to speak the truth."

- The Rev. Clyde Brooks, chairman of the Arlington Heights-based Illinois Commission on Diversity & Human Relations, who worked with King

'Live as brothers or perish as fools'

"The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired unity in all. He said, 'We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.'

"One person can make a difference, but no community can prosper if everyone is going in a different direction. Unity is created when determined people join together and do work that is bigger than themselves.

"On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I tell you this: Everyone has a role to play in achieving unity. Everyone has a role to play in achieving Dr. King's dream of advancing social justice and economic opportunity.

"We must live in a way that inspires respect for differences and ideas.

"Dr. King said, 'Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?' And, from this, we know that we can accomplish much when inspired by a purpose beyond ourselves - doing this together, in unity."

- Leon Rockingham, North Chicago mayor

'Never capitulate on human and civil rights'

"We celebrate Dr. King like we celebrate many dead heroes - with a day off work and palatable platitudes that make us comfortable with the deceased, while we politely applaud at a public program.

"We celebrate his commitment to nonviolent protest but never his admonition that riots are the language of the unheard and that we cannot condemn them without also condemning the conditions that lead to riots.

"We quote his dream that people be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, but never his warning that freedom is never given by the oppressor, but must be demanded by the oppressed.

"I believe that, especially today, we need to honor his legacy by modeling his direct action. We must march for justice for the marginalized and oppressed; resist unjust laws and administrations; and never capitulate on the issues of human and civil rights. In other words, we must urgently and relentlessly act year-round, not just in January.

"Anything less diminishes his legacy."

­- Traci D. Ellis, an Elgin attorney and Elgin Area School District U-46 board member

'Work to treat everyone equally'

"We should honor the legacy of Dr. King by looking back at what he did and how he dedicated himself to human rights, civil rights and voters rights.

"He believed that all people are equal. We are all equal as one because we are all human.

"We should all be entitled to the best of what this nation has to offer, when it comes to the future of our children - no matter their race, color or creed. And that goes for education, that goes for health care. It goes for housing and just a healthy civic lifestyle.

"If we work to treat everyone equally and do that on a local level, then globally we will know, from the White House down to the schoolyards, we are raising a healthy nation of people."

- Regina Brent, an Aurora resident and president of Unity Partnership, which works to improve police-community relations