My Why: MLK Day, the PIE Summit, and the Call to Good Trouble

MLK Day is often framed as a moment of remembrance, but for many of us doing this work, it is also a mirror. One that asks us to examine where we stand, what we are willing to confront, and how boldly we are prepared to act.

Just a few months ago, I traveled with colleagues to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend the PIE Summit, joining organizations from across the country united by a shared purpose: advancing equity in public education. The energy in the room was unmistakable, rooted in grit, urgency, and a collective refusal to accept systems that continue to underserve children and families.

That feeling was familiar. It echoed a much earlier moment in my life; one that shaped not only how I see the world, but how I choose to move through it.

During my college years in Memphis, Tennessee, I found myself standing face-to-face with members of the Ku Klux Klan, fully cloaked, while protesting the removal of a statue honoring the organization’s founder. I remember the heat pressing down on my skin, the tightness in my chest, the sound of boots against pavement as we stood our ground. As we raised our voices, racial slurs were hurled back at us, loud and venomous, meant to silence and intimidate.

That moment shattered the shell of the world I thought I understood growing up in the Midwest. Fear and clarity arrived at the same time. It exposed the depth of the inequalities and ingrained systems of harm that still persist in this country. I learned quickly that justice is not theoretical. It is lived, contested, and demanded, often at great personal cost.

I was no longer able to look away.
 

The PIE Summit and the Power of Purpose

The PIE Summit in Atlanta brought me back to that realization - my why. Being surrounded by educators, advocates, organizers, and leaders who are fighting for students and families every day reminded me why this work matters. Why Kids First Chicago matters.

Our work is about being on the front lines for those who are too often overlooked. For families who are told, explicitly or implicitly, that their options are limited. For communities that deserve not just access, but excellence.

My commitment to this work didn’t start with a job title. It started generations ago.

My grandmother arrived in Illinois as a young teenager and went on to become a tireless community advocate in her small town of Kankakee. She believed deeply in standing up for others, especially those without power. As she used to say, she “hated a bully.”

I guess you could say it’s in my blood.

Walking in Dr. King’s Footsteps

While in Atlanta, our K1C team visited the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I had been before, this time felt different. More kindred.

Standing there together, I realized that through my work at Kids First Chicago, I am living out the continued hopes of my ancestors, pushing this country closer to the promise of a better tomorrow, starting with our own communities. We also visited the eternal flame, a symbol of Dr. King’s enduring legacy, but I was struck by another truth.

The eternal flame within me is still burning.

Dr. King famously urged us not just to dream, but to act and to create what American civil rights leader, John Lewis, called “good trouble, necessary trouble.” That charge feels especially urgent now.

As we honor Dr. King this MLK Day, I’m reminded that this work is not about comfort. It’s about courage. It’s about disrupting injustice, standing with communities who are too often ignored, and insisting on dignity, opportunity, and excellence for every child.

The eternal flame we visited in Atlanta flickered steadily, a living symbol of a legacy that refuses to dim. And the flame within me, ignited long ago, renewed at the PIE Summit, and carried forward through my work at Kids First Chicago continues to burn.

I’m ready for whatever good trouble comes next.