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The American Bar Association’s Cornerstones of Democracy Commission, on which I am privileged to serve, encourages the legal profession to lead the way in promoting civics, civility and collaboration—the cornerstones of American democracy—to restore confidence in democratic institutions and the judicial system, and to promote the rule of law.

As we examine the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we can see Dr. King employing these three cornerstones of democracy as he challenged our nation to live up to its ideals.

First, Dr. King mastered the initial cornerstone of democracy which is civics. Dr. King had a clear understanding of how the three branches of our government worked, and how the separation of powers provided the necessary checks and balances needed for a diverse, stable and just society.

Dr. King knew that our constitutional democracy had the ability to deliver justice for every citizen. What was lacking was the willingness of those empowered to control our government to have it work for the mutual benefit of all citizens. For that reason, Dr. King met with Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, as leaders of the executive branch, to make sure our nation’s civil rights agenda was also a presidential priority.

Dr. King also met with congressional leaders in order to work with them to fashion the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 1968 Fair Housing Act that, in combination, eliminated many of the significant barriers to full and free participation in our society by women, people of color and other underrepresented groups in our nation.

Dr. King also enlisted the third branch of our government, the federal judiciary. With the help of talented lawyers such as future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Dr. King petitioned our federal courts to strike down laws that denied equal treatment to all citizens.

Dr. King was also very skilled at deploying the second cornerstone of democracy, which is collaboration. While Dr. King was the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, in many respects the SCLC was a loose confederation of churches and other organizations dedicated to ending government sanctioned segregation and discrimination. Many of these other organizations had their own view of how to proceed. Fortunately, Dr. King was able to find the common ground around which all of these distinct groups were able to coalesce and collaborate.

And then there is the third cornerstone of democracy, which is civility. In the face of vicious and false accusations, Dr. King did not respond in kind. He made the conscious decision to remain peaceful in his conduct and in his rhetoric. This decision prevented the messages of the civil rights community from being transformed into shouting matches. Instead, by conducting himself at all times in a respectful and civil manner, Dr. King was able to nullify the vitriol that was directed at him by those who opposed equal treatment for all citizens under the law.

As Dr. King harnessed the power of our cornerstones of democracy to advance a national civil rights movement, I am confident we can attack other social problems using these same tools.

Robust civics education, focused collaboration and intentional civility: These three cornerstones of our democracy can also be marshaled to address other major societal problems. On that list of other major societal problems, I would include the following three areas that need urgent attention.

First is homelessness and the lack of affordable housing. Second is gun violence in our schools, in our places of worship and on the streets of our communities. And third is poverty and the lack of economic opportunity. A renewed emphasis on the three cornerstones of our democracy will allow us to mobilize to address these burdens on our society.

The opening line of our U.S. Constitution begins with the words, “We the people.” For over 200 years, we the people have endeavored to make the promises of our constitution available to all by doing these three things: (1) Making sure each successive generation received the necessary civics education to effectively engage our system of governance; (2) Making sure we understood that by collaborating we could achieve the common good without sacrificing the rights of any group; and (3) At all times remembering our fellow citizens are our neighbors and not our enemies, and therefore we should treat them in a respectful and civil manner.

As we begin this new year, this is a time for action. We have the three cornerstones of democracy available for our use to meet the challenges of our time.

Dr. King showed us how to use these tools to bring about significant positive social change. Now it is our turn to do the same.

Michael E. Flowers is a member of Steptoe & Johnson, where he practices general corporate and commercial real estate law within the law firm’s business law department. He is also the firm’s director of diversity and inclusion. Flowers also is a former chair of the ABA Business Law Section and a former member of the ABA Board of Governors. He currently serves as a member of the ABA Cornerstones of Democracy Commission and as a member of ABA House of Delegates.

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.