Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a United States holiday marking the date of birth (15 January 1929) of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. and is observed on the third Monday in January each year.
Barack Obama - Presidential Inauguration
King Day, which will be celebrated on 19 January this year, will take on an added significance as it will precede the day when Barack Obama, the first black American president is inaugurated on 20 January at noon on the steps of the west front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington.
I Have a Dream Speech
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination on 4 April 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee did not slow the Civil Rights Movement. They had read his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and heard Dr King’s “I had a Dream” speech in 1963 on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial.
Black and white people continued to fight for freedom and equality. Coretta Scott King, an activist in her own rights, was the widow of the civil rights leader. In 1970, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This "living memorial" consists of his boyhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where MLK is buried.
Coretta Scott King on King Day
Mrs Coretta Scott King said on the website of the King Center: “On this Martin Luther King Jr holiday, we commemorate the universal, unconditional love, forgiveness and nonviolence that empowered his revolutionary spirit. The King Holiday commemorates America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence --- the man who taught by his example that nonviolent action is the most powerful, revolutionary force for social change available to oppressed people in their struggles for liberation.”
How Dr Martin Luther King Day Happened
President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law in the Rose Garden, 15 years after Dr. King's death, making the third Monday of January a national holiday to celebrate the birth and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But it was a rough journey.
Martin Luther King Day was first observed in 1986. Not all states observed the holiday and others gave it a different name. King Day was only officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2006.
Opposition to Honoring Dr King
America had only honored two individuals with national holidays - George Washington and Christopher Columbus and many felt there were more worthy people. A senator from Georgia even denounced Dr. King as a communist
Others feared the King Holiday was meant as a way to make up to African-Americans for slavery. Senator Bob Dole pointed out to those critics '"I suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery, followed by a century or more of economic, political and social exclusion and discrimination"
Senator Jesse Helms (Rep-North Carolina) led the opposition to the bill and questioned whether MKL was important enough to receive such an honor.
Alternative Names for Martin Luther King Day
While all states now observe the holiday, some did not name the day after MLK.
- In Utah, the holiday was known as "Human Rights Day" until the year 2000.
- In Virginia, it was known as Lee-Jackson-King Day until 2000.
- In Arizona and New Hampshire, Martin Luther King Day is known as "Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Day
The King Center and Stevie Wonder Organize
While congress couldn’t decide, many African-Americans celebrated Dr King’s birthday themselves anyway. The King Center turned to support from the general public. Stevie Wonder wrote and released the single "Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 article in The Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history.
20 January 2009 - Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama
This year Martin Luther King Day will set the scene for the historic presidential inauguration on 20 January 2009.
Maybe the realization of Dr King's dream is beginning.
Also Read:
Celebrate Martin Luther King Day
Martin Luther King Day Project Ideas
Sources:
King Center
Welcome to Martin Luther King Jr Day on the Net
Karen Lotter - Karen Lotter is a journalist and writer based in Durban, South Africa. She has written profiles, features, advertising copy, ...
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