If left up to the Trump administration, Martin Luther King Jr. Day would likely be nullified as a federal holiday.

Trump used his executive powers to change the observance of MLK Day by cancelling it as a free-admission day for those who wish to visit our national parks during federal holidays.

The order also applies to Juneteenth. Access to the national parks on those two days will no longer be free as it is with other federal holidays. However, free admission days this year will include June 14, Trump’s birthday, which is also Flag Day and is not a federal holiday.

Obstructing the commemoration or MLK Day is just one more step in mitigating, minimizing or outright undoing the place and role of Black Americans.

Targeting and removing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives in both the public and private sectors has been a high priority during the second term of the Trump administration.

Trump’s most recent declaration is that the Civil Rights Act hurt white people, resulting in “white people being treated very badly.” What will be next?

Will there be ongoing efforts to bury, erase and recast all of the Black experience — the inhumane and inequitable treatment across generations, as well as the contributions to this country despite it?

Is the desire to bury everything about Black people in a time capsule, never to be found.

As we pause to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., we should take notice of the stark and diabolical efforts to undue everything he worked and paid the ultimate price for: equal treatment, access and opportunities, not only for Blacks but poor whites and all the down-trodden among us.

Clearly, the work is not done.

There are concerted efforts in every aspect of American life to undue the progress made so far and stop the march toward equality.

Martin Luther King Jr. believed in America’s promise — the ideals, principles and laws on which this country was founded and promoted. He mobilized others and appealed to elected officials and policymakers at every level of government to ensure that laws, rights and privileges of the land applied equally to all citizens, irrespective of skin color, gender or station in life.

That was his dream. His life’s work. His ultimate sacrifice.

When remembering King the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered during the march on Washington, D.C. in 1963, is often referenced.

But the fire that burned within King’s soul, that led him to dedicate his life toward eradicating social evil and injustice, started long before — nearly 20 years earlier when he traveled to Dublin, Georgia as a senior in high school to deliver “The Negro and the Constitution” in an oratory contest.

Perhaps, King’s dream was just a flicker back then. But as you follow King’s life through college and the seminary, you see that flicker grows into a flame. The more he saw and heard, the more he could not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear. He set out on a life-long journey to eradicate human injustice.

What issues or conditions tug at your heart and soul deeply enough to spend time to change them, make things better for the disenfranchised among us?

It is never too early or too late to do something.

America needs dreamers today like Martin Luther King, Jr. to fix some of its greatest social, racial challenges and inequities.

Many we thought were behind us, only to realize the resurgence of many anew.

While besieged by the current hyperbolic and unpredictable political environment perpetuated by the Trump administration and his state and local cohorts, we could easily lose sight of the ground we have lost in recent years in the quest for equality and equal opportunity — many of the things King fought and died for.

Schools across America are still segregated, some more than ever.

Voting rights continue to be challenged in many states, making it more difficult for Blacks and other minorities to exercise their right to vote.

There is still discrimination occurring in the job market, access to housing, and access to higher education whether it involves admission to colleges, universities of technical vocational institutions.

Discrimination is still rampant in the justice system when it comes to racial profiling, traffic stops, or issuing the same punishments for the same crime. There are injustices even among how schools discipline Black children and white children for the same misconduct.

The pronouncement, executive orders and other actions of the Trump administration have only fueled racial inequity and discord, bringing it front and center in almost every aspect of our daily lives.

Is this your dream for America?

Doing something, continuing to root out inequality and injustice where we encounter it, is the greatest tribute we can pay to Martin Luther King Jr.

When King took up the fight to realize America’s promise for all of her citizens, he knew  change would not come overnight.

What are we willing to do, whether Martin Luther King Jr. Day remains a federal holiday or not?

Janice Ellis lives in Missouri and has been an executive in both government and the private sector. She has written commentary for more than four decades, which has appeared on radio, in news publications across the country and online.