Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a US holiday celebrated on the third Monday of January to honor the civil rights leader’s birth. King emphasized nonviolence to protest racial discrimination and led peaceful protests, including the historic March on Washington in 1963. Congressman John Conyers introduced legislation for a holiday four days after King’s assassination, and it became a federal holiday in 1986. Some states initially rejected the idea of celebrating the day, but eventually recognized it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States holiday that commemorates the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday is celebrated every January on the third Monday of the month. King was a civil rights leader who emphasized nonviolence as a way to protest racial discrimination. He has been instrumental in working to resolve civil and human rights issues.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College in 1948. He went on to graduate from two other universities: Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951 and Boston University in 1955. In 1954 became a Baptist church minister in Montgomery, AL and led a black boycott of segregated city buses between the years of 1955 and 1956. His efforts led to the desegregation of Montgomery buses in 1956 and ultimately led to him becoming an influential civil rights leader in the US
Throughout his life as a civil rights leader, King staged peaceful protests and was arrested on many occasions despite his nonviolent methods. In 1963 he led the historic March on Washington, where 200,000 people rallied to draw attention to the need for civil rights, desegregated schools, an end to racial discrimination and other civil rights issues. It was one of the largest demonstrations Washington DC had ever witnessed and the first to receive widespread media attention. The following year, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Just four years later, on April 4, 1968, King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
Congressman John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, introduced legislation for a holiday celebrating King four days after King’s assassination. Unfortunately the account has been blocked. As a result, six million people signed a petition to Congress in support of the bill. Each legislative session, Conyers and Representative Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat from New York, reintroduced legislation to make King’s birthday a national holiday. Concerned citizens marched in Washington in 1982 and 1983, putting increased pressure on the US government to formally acknowledge the contributions of this powerful civil rights figure.
In 1983, President Reagan signed the bill into law. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day officially became a federal holiday in 1986. Once King’s birthday became an official holiday, some states rejected the idea of celebrating the special day, saying King didn’t deserve his own holiday .
They felt that the entire civil rights movement should be honoured, not just one person. Some Southern states used the day to celebrate the lives of several Confederate Civil War generals instead of paying tribute to the life of a prominent civil rights leader. The state of Arizona didn’t formally recognize the holiday until 1992, after tourists boycotted the state.
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