Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: January 16, 2023
Contributor: The I.D.E.A Committee
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of January. This year, the holiday is celebrated on January 16. This holiday recognizes the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr., an activist and one of the most influential leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Racial justice, economic equality, affordable housing, labor rights and fair Montgomery bus laws were some of the causes that Dr. King peacefully advocated. We celebrate this day because it recognizes Dr. King's legacy of service, while inspiring us to serve in our own ways.
The idea of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday was promoted soon after his assassination in April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was leading a protest march to support striking sanitation workers. After King's death, Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat, along with Sen. Edward Brooke, a Republican, introduced a bill in Congress to make King’s birthday a national holiday.
The bill first came to a vote in the House of Representatives in 1979 and fell five votes short of the number needed. There were two main arguments mentioned by opponents, the first being that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive and, secondly, that a holiday to honor the birth of a private citizen who had never held public office would be contrary to longstanding tradition.
On November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a new bill, proposed by Rep. Katie Hall of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring King. Following the bill's passage and acceptance, the holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. The new holiday was met in some states with resistance, and the holiday was observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
Awards And Honors Received: Nobel Prize (1964)
Martin Luther King Jr. Well Known Quotes:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"
"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in." March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964
Did you know, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s connection to American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)?
AFSCME and Dr. King | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/biographical/
https://www.calendar-365.com/holidays/martin-luther-king-day.html
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