Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Well, it's a momentous day for America. This is day that Americans celebrate a man who was a visionary, a man so moving he inspired an entire movement (or at least magnified it and brought tons of attention).


But really, what does this day mean? What are it's origins? Why this Monday in January? Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?
To keep things relatively short, I'll be abbreviating Martin Luther King, Jr. to just MLK as much as I can.



Let's start with who Martin Luther King Jr. was.
He was born on January 15, 1929 as Michael Luther King, Jr. (though - as we can all tell - he later changed his name to Martin Luther King, Jr.). He attended a segregated public school in Georgia, graduated from high school at age 15, received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in 1948 (age 19) from Morehouse College (a distinguished African-American institution of Atlanta - both his father and grandfather had graduated from there). Following his B.A., MLK studied theology for 3 years at Crozer Theological Seminary (Pennsylvania) and was elected president of a mostly white senior class. Even then, he was showing signs of leadership and garnering respect. After graduating in 1951, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University and received his doctorate degree in 1955.

If you recall from elementary school lessons on Martin Luther King, Jr., he then met Coretta Scott whom he married. She is quoted as being "a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments". They had 2 sons and 2 daughters.

Following his doctorate, he returned to Atlanta where his family had 3 generations as pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church (Atlanta) beginning with MLK's grandfather (pastor from 1914 - 1931). Following MLK's grandfather was MLK's father, and in 1960, MLK joined the scene as co-pastor.

He was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In December, 1955, he accepted the leadership of the first great African-American demonstration - the bus boycott (lasting 382 days). On December 21, 1956 the Supreme Court of the US had declared the laws requiring segregation on buses as unconstitutional. MLK wasn't untouched by this boycott - in its duration, he endured arrests, his house being bombed, being subjected to personal abuse, and finally - emerging as one of the greatest African-American leaders (a leader of the first rank, so to speak).

In 1957, he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (organization to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement) with its ideals taken from Christianity and its operational techniques from Gandhi.
During 1957 - 1968, MLK traveled over 6 million miles, spoke over 25,000 times (appeared wherever there was injustice, protest, and action), wrote 5 books and numerous articles, led a massive protest in Birmingham (Alabama - caught attention of whole world), directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C. with 250,000 people (some historians actually believe the number was much greater) and delivered his most famous address: "I Have a Dream" (August 28, 1963), was arrested more than 20 times, was assaulted at least 4 times, was awarded 5 honorary degrees, was named Man of the Year by Time magazine (1963), and became the symbolic leader of American blacks and a world figure.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35 (making him the youngest man to have received it) and when notified of his selection, "he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement".

On April 4, 1968, where he was to lead a protest march in Memphis, Tennessee (in sympathy with striking garbage workers of the city), MLK was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel room.



Moving on the the day commemorating MLK.
Why is it on a Monday in January and not in April, when he died, or in August, when he delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech?

If you remember from above, his birthday was January 15. To keep the day from being in the middle of the week, the US celebrates MLK Day on the 3rd Monday of January - close to his birthday.

Soon after his assassination, the campaign for the federal holiday in his honor began. In 1983, Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law, but it wasn't until 1986 that it was first observed. Until 2000, some states resisted observing the holiday as Marting Luther King, Jr. Day and gave it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. In 2000, it was officially observed in all 50 states - 71 years after his birth.

For more detailed information about the date, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Day.


Let's finish up with what this day means.
If you couldn't guess by now, this day is commorating the life of a respected man, who gave his life to help others gain their free lives. He was a contemporary Civil War soldier who fought for his Union, who fought for the freedom of the African American, and (either knowingly or unknowingly) also fought for the freedom of all other minorities.

A lesser known event is the national Martin Luther King Day of Service (started by former Pennsylvania US Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis - co-authors of the King Holiday and Service Act). This federal legislation challenges Americans to transform MLK Day into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of Dr. King. On August 23, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the legislation into law.

As important as MLK Day is to Americans, it's also important in Hiroshima (Japan) under current mayor - Tadatoshi Akiba. He holds a special banquet at the mayor's office as an act of unifying his city's call for peace with MLK's message of human rights. In Canada, MLK Day is a de facto holiday - meaning that many take the day off, although it is not a federally recognized day off.


Sources:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Day