Day 6: The Work King Didn’t Finish

There is a temptation, when we talk about Dr. King, to speak as though his work belongs entirely to the past.

We mark anniversaries. We quote speeches. We celebrate victories already won. And in doing so, we sometimes imply—quietly, unintentionally—that the work reached its conclusion with him.

But Dr. King never believed that.

Near the end of his life, King spoke less about dreams fulfilled and more about demands unmet. He warned that racial justice without economic justice would always be incomplete. He named poverty, militarism, and exploitation as moral failures woven into the nation's fabric. He understood that progress, left unattended, does not sustain itself.

King was not marching toward an ending.He was pointing toward a continuation.

That is why the question of unfinished work matters so deeply today.

We are living with the consequences of delayed justice—widening inequality, carceral systems that punish rather than restore, communities over-policed and under-resourced, democratic ideals strained by exclusion and fear. These are not new problems. They are old ones, renamed.

To acknowledge unfinished work is not to diminish King’s legacy. It is to honor it honestly.

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Today’s Reading

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle By Angela Davis

In Freedom Is a Constant Struggle, Angela Davis extends the questions King was still asking at the end of his life. Through essays and speeches, she connects historical movements for justice to contemporary struggles, reminding us that freedom is not a moment—it is a practice.

As you read, notice how Davis emphasizes continuity. Pay attention to the way she traces patterns across generations, showing how systems adapt even as resistance evolves. This is not a book about despair. It is a book about responsibility.

Read it as a bridge—between then and now, between what was imagined and what still must be built.

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Closing Reflection

Dr. King did not leave us closure. He left us direction.

The work he named—dismantling injustice, building community, insisting on dignity—was never meant to be completed by one generation alone. It was meant to be carried, questioned, and renewed.

At H. WordSmith Reads, we believe reading helps us locate ourselves within that lineage. Today’s reading reminds us that legacy is not something we inherit passively. It is something we choose to uphold—or abandon—through action.

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Writing Invitation

Write about unfinished work.

What struggle did you inherit? What responsibility do you resist? What work keeps calling your name?

Begin here if you need a place to start: “The work I have not yet finished is…”

Write with honesty. Write without apology. Write toward the future you are willing to labor for.

You may keep your words private or share them with the H. WordSmith Reads community as part of our collective reflection.

Tomorrow, we close not with an ending—but with a commitment.