By Abe Villarreal

I often think of what our descendants will end up naming the current age period. Will it be the Age of Surprises? The Connected Age? The Me Period? Sometimes it feels like all three with a mixture of previous time periods. We'll know later as most often names are given in retrospect.

I write this as Martin Luther King Day comes to a close. A federal holiday commemorated to a generation of people who are losing connection with the Reverend, in what he believed and how he fought for those beliefs.

What a difference a generation makes. In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of powerful advocacy through nonviolence. A half-century later, we are too busy to advocate for important things. The kinds of things that change lives.

Today we debate about football teams. Teens fight over brand name shoes. Young people are incarcerated for years; lives lost to little, not important things.

Where are the big things anymore? The big dreams? The big people with big ideas? It's hard to imagine a Martin Luther King Jr. among us. One person emulating the King philosophy is Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani activist who was shot and became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

Malala gained worldwide recognition after surviving three gunshots to the face as a 14-year-old. She miraculously survived the attack, becoming an advocate of education for everyone, but especially for those under Taliban rule.

What most don't know is that before her attack, Malala was already doing her good work, in her quiet way. At the age of 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym. Soon the world would be better educated about the life of women under the Taliban.

Malala did this because it was the right thing to do, without television cameras or any fame. In that same spirit, as a modern day Martin Luther King Jr., Malala put herself forward. Not waiting for others, she helped pave the way for others. No matter the dangers present, or the consequences of her bravery.

There are other modern-day Martin Luther Kings among us. We look back at the Civil Rights Era and remember the good and the bad, and the good shines brightly.

Today, we should help the good among us shine bright so that when historians look back at our era, no matter what it is called, the Martin Luther Kings of our time are not overlooked.

Abe Villarreal is the Director of Communications at Western New Mexico University. When not on campus, he enjoys writing about his observations on marketing, life, people and American traditions.