The meaning behind American holidays can be easily lost in our daily hustle and bustle. Historic moments and people commemorated by bank and office closures can be overshadowed by the (much needed) opportunity to rest or chase offspring basking in their own school holiday.

But friends, let this MLK Day NOT be one of those random vaguely recognizable holidays for us this year. Let’s replenish the energy that BLM and other critical social moments and ongoing efforts infused in us in 2020 and lean in to this Congressionally-declared day of service—the ONLY federal holiday to be designated as such.

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Dr. Martin Luther King

Uncovering history with Freedmen’s Bureau transcription

For my small contribution to MLK-inspired community work this year, I’ve been volunteering with the Smithsonian Freedmen’s Bureau transcription project —transcribing and reviewing documents from 1865 - 1872 associated with the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.

Having access to primary source materials (the real deal in-the-moment documentation) is critical in understanding our shared history and empowering us to dive into critical cultural topics with fewer filters.

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created near the end of the Civil War to support over 4 million Black Americans transition from enslavement to life after the 15th Amendment) and the thousands of documents that the Smithsonian houses (and needs transcribed) are direct windows in life during the Reconstruction period.

They are real human stories scratched into vintage notebooks documenting an attempted transition from slavery to freedom:

Someone seeking the payment of a $46.18 contract ($960 in today’s money) for services performed—a story in itself for a man who had spent his life in bondage without ever seeing compensation. Was this partial compensation for a lifetime of servitude or the best he could negotiate for the entirety of his enslavement?

A man “sadly afflicted with falling fits” who has fallen into a fire and suffered severe burns who needs medical attention at a hospital. These millions of folks had access to zero healthcare support and relied on the Freedmen’s Bureau and the kindness/support of the community to survive.

A mother of two with a baby on the way seeking help tracking down her recently employed deadbeat husband for financial support.

Complaints of former slave owners illegally ‘retrieving’ cows out of spite.

Desperate parents seeking help finding a son who has been illegally ‘apprenticed’ to another family far away.

These are the human stories that add heartbreaking detail we need to look in the face to remember what racial discrimination does to our families, our neighbors and our nation.

The lack of proper resources and the short lifespan of the Freedman’s Bureau is also well-documented in the Smithsonian collection—despite the good intentions of those in its employ. A bureau agent in a North Carolina field office writes:

“The destitute mentioned in your letter must stand or fall, relying on their own capacity for preservation as far as I am at present informed. All claims due Freedmen for labor performed can be collected summarily if any exist with them unpaid. Anxious to assist the Freedpeople in any practical way.”

This MLK Day, may we too be reminded of the importance to assist our community in any practical way. We might not be able to go out en force and volunteer in the community together thanks to the pandemic, but we can use this day of service (and the days before and after) to go back in time to help each other understand, process and prevent the hatred that so scarred and divided us for future generations.