Photos show the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday honors the birthday of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the most prominent figure in the U.S. civil rights movement. The holiday, often shortened to MLK Day, is a federal holiday in the United States, observed on the third Monday of January every year. This year, the holiday falls on Monday, Jan. 15, which is King’s actual birthday.
King’s advocacy for the African-American community began in the early 1950s after he rose to prominence as a pastor in Montgomery, Alabama. In March 1955, Claudette Calvin, a Black school girl, refused to give up her seat to a white man, highlighting the time of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation in the South. Later that year, Rosa Parks also refused to give up her seat on a city bus. These incidents led King and Edgar Nixon, an activist and civil rights leader, to start the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted 385 days.
In 1963, violent attacks against civil rights demonstrators led many activists to have a mass protest at the nation’s Capitol. The March on Washington was created by King and many civil rights leaders across the country to combat discrimination against African-Americans, Latinos, and other marginalized groups and to promote freedom and equality within the workforce. Before the march, President John F. Kennedy met with King and other activists to voice his concern about the possible violence that could occur during the protest. All the activists agreed that this march was necessary. To ensure that everything ran smoothly, Kennedy upped security at the Capitol. King’s famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech made its debut that day.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” King said. The speech, which led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, was an attempt to end segregation barriers between minorities and white Americans.
After King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, the activist gained national recognition and became a prominent figure of the civil rights movement. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated as he stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Four days after King’s assassination, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) proposed MLK Day, which would make King’s birthday a federal holiday. On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill, officially making MLK Day a federal holiday.
MLK Day is one of the federal holidays dedicated to the National Day of Service, urging citizens to get involved in their communities and serve others.
