At my former job, a companywide email went out announcing that we would be expected to work on Martin Luther King Day. A collective groan went up around the office- everyone had expected the day off. Soon after this announcement, there was another email- this one from building management. It turned out that of all the hundred-something companies in our building, we were the only one who would be working that day. The building would not even have heat that day, and all maintenance employees were off-duty. Finally, admitting defeat, our CEO relented and gave us the day off.
Martin Luther King once said that no one can ever jump on your back unless you bend it. He probably wasn’t envisioning that his words would mean so much to a white girl from the suburbs who worked in a corporate office building, but soon after that on-and-off holiday I finally quit my job. I was tired of playing a role in my own oppression. The day I walked out of there was the first time in months I realized that I was no longer bending my back.
Happy Martin Luther King Day, whether you’re in the office or not.
-Lilit
