Pres. Obama, First Family Celebrate MLK Day with Service Project

In observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday today, President Obama and the First Family honored the late civil rights leader with a service project at the Browne Education Center in Washington, DC. President Obama put his artistry skills to work by painting the walls with the phrase, “The time is always right to do what is right” while Mrs. Obama painted the words “I have a dream.”

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The service project was attended by a handful of volunteers who also gathered to hear brief remarks from the president on the importance of honoring Dr. King’s legacy by doing something on behalf of others. President Obama also acknowledged the controversy surrounding a quote on the new MLK memorial which is being changed amid criticism that it does not accurately reflect King’s words.

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“What he really said was all of us can be a drum major for service, all of us can be a drum major for justice,” Obama said. “There is nobody who can’t serve, nobody who can’t help somebody else.”

The inscription on the King memorial currently reads, “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” which is paraphrased from a his sermon “Drum Major Instinct.”

This marks the third consecutive year the Obamas have participated in a service project on the King holiday.