As we head into the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday weekend, its natural – maybe even necessary — to reflect on what we are each doing to honor the legacy that he and other civil rights movement leaders left for us to follow. Reflecting on that present for me starts in the past.

I am the blessed son of Dominican immigrants, the youngest of 3 children born to Nelson A. Garcia and Prudencia del Rosario de Fatima Rodriguez Merino. Parents whose various jobs bore little resemblance to the dreams and careers that their potential merited.

To not just be their voice in an English-dominated world, but to also ensure that they got back the information they needed to develop their own best voice.

Growing up with a foot in multiple worlds, it’s easy to see how language – and class, race and gender — hides other elements to the stories that people know.

For close to 40 years, NCRP has been a key player in the philanthropic sector, encouraging funders to maximize the good they are already doing by being accountable and transparent organizations that employ effective grantmaking practices that benefit marginalized communities.

They are the kind of close friend who loves you enough to tell you the hard truth when no one else will, but also is the first one to roll up their sleeves to help you do better.

“Human beings with all their faults and strengths constitute the mechanism of a social movement,” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in one of his last books, Why We Can’t Wait. “They must make mistakes and learn from them, make more mistakes and learn anew. They must taste defeat as well as success and discover how to live with each. Time and action are the teachers.”

Read the full article about how to honor civil rights leader by Elbert Garcia at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.