Martin Luther King, Jr Day

source

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The day we celebrate the man who fought to end segregation and racism in general. The quote on The King Center's page from his wife that I feel best represents what he fought for and, thus, represents who and what we celebrate today is, "We commemorate Dr. King's inspiring words, because his and his vision filled a great void in our nation, and answered our cellective longing to become a country that truly lived by its noblest principles." MLK (Martin Luther King, Jr.) not only spoke up for his vision of a county without racism, he also put his life on the line in his fight. He faced threats, jail, and beatings as results of his advocacy. While he didn't achieve his dream, his actions did result in some long overdue changes towards racial equality.

Now I won't go into great detail about MLK's life, both personal and as what many today would call a Social Justice Warrior, I will give some information here and provide links for anybody that wants to know more about the man and his mission.

I (mage source   quote's validity source

A Brief History on the Holiday Itself

• Martin Luther King, Jr Day is celebrated on the 3rd monday in January.
• The first legislation introduced to create the holiday was brought forth on 8 April 1968, 4 days after his assassination, by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).
• The day wasn't an official holiday anywhere in the US until Illinois made it a state holiday in 1973, followed by Massachusetts and Connecticut the following year.
• His wife (Coretta Scott King) testified in front of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and Joint Hearings of Congress in favor of creating the federal holiday we have today in 1979, but the Conyers King Holiday bill was defeated in a floor vote in the House that November. (Note, it was defeated by only 5 votes.)
• Mrs. King again testified for the holiday in 1982, but before the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Services's Subcommittee on Census and Population.
• She again testified before Congress in favor of the King Holiday Bill in June of 1983.
• The bill was signed by President Reagan in November of 1983, creating the federal holiday we currently have.

With his family. Source

A Brief History on Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther was born in 1929 as Michael Luther King, jr, but later changed his name to Martin. He attended segregated schools as a child and got his B.A. in sociology from Morehouse College in 1948. He then went on to receive his B.D. degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He followed that with going to Boston University for his graduate studies. He finished his graduate studies in 1953, and was awarded the degree in 1955. Boston is also where he met and married his wife Coretta Scott. The couple had 3 children.

MLK was on the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) by 1954. He accepted the role of leader in the 382 day Montgomery Bus Boycott in December of 1955, which resulted in the US Supreme Court ruling segregation on busses unconstitutional. Between 1957 and his death in 1968, King traveled the country and spoke where there was injustice, protest, and action, as well as leading many protests himself and writing 5 books.

King was the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize when he was told he was to be the winner at 35. In 1968, at 39, he was assassinated in Memphis, TN.

• read any of the books on his biography page at nobelprize.org (link in the sources)
• his biography at The King Center's website
• his biography at history.com
• his entry at britannica.com
• you can also read his autobiography which is available at both Amazon and Google books. You can also find it in a library with worldcat

SOURCES

• The King Center 1 - 2 - 3
• NobelPrize.org
• Morehouse College website