Thank you for Yvonne Abraham’s renewed call for a long-overdue Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Boston (“Now is the time to honor King’s city ties,’’ Metro, Jan. 15). At a time when barriers are being proposed to separate countries and communities, Boston can respond by forging stronger bonds among all of our diverse neighborhoods and communities.

Our city’s role in civil rights history — a source of both pride and shame over the last 400 years — is significant and too often ignored. Though many events and people have been memorialized, we have yet to recognize adequately King’s transformative legacy on our city and nation, as well as our own city’s role in shaping the man himself.

A memorial could play an important role in stimulating public debate and activating the public sphere. This is a cause that all of Boston’s diverse communities can come together to support.

Seth Riseman, Boston