Martin Luther King Jr. Day Dissected

Throughout my life, many influential people have come and gone. All had different characteristics, different ways of coming to their goals, and very different personalities, but they all had one common goal: reestablish the truth to better protect all US citizens. Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968, his legacy lives on in many ways, including lasting equality, and especially through his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Although Martin Luther King Jr. created a greatly defined legacy, the next paragraph will explain some background on who Martin Luther King Jr. was and why he was so important.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA, to a middle-class African American family. Due to his parent’s success, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to attend school and receive a good education. Unfortunately, his first experience with segregation occurred while Martin Luther King Jr. was in elementary school. He was forced to attend a school different to his Caucasian friends, and his friend’s parents soon did not allow Dr. King to come over. This experience had a lasting impact on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For these reasons, and many others, Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to abolishing racial discrimination.

To fully understand who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, one must understand both the time period he was born and who his family was. To begin, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in the late 1920s, and segregation and social injustices were in full swing, meaning men, women, and children who were African American were not allowed to sit on buses if a Caucasian man, woman, or child did not have a seat, they could not use public restrooms or water fountains, for they had their own designated places. Many rules similar to these were in place, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was encouraged to acknowledge these injustices by his family. Furthermore, his family was supportive of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s decisions and goals in life. His father was a member of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and his mother was part of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and instilled a deep love of God into Dr. King, which can be seen through Dr. King’s use of peaceful protests and many other actions.

Dr. King soon became a social activist and a Baptist minister, and he played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s and up until his assassination. Dr. King saw the injustices in the world and took his experiences with inequality to fight for human rights, especially for African Americans, through many peaceful protests. Also, Dr. King was the driving force behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington. These actions helped develop the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Furthermore, for his actions, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

After his assassination, U.S. Senator Edward Brooke and U.S. Representative John Conyers introduced a bill to make Dr. King’s birthday a National Holiday. After much debate, the bill went through, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated annually on the third Monday of January, for the third Monday of January is close to his actual birthday. Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been acknowledged as a federal holiday since 1986.

Yesterday, Monday January 21, we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Dr. King left a legacy that is still prevalent today, and will be remembered for many years to come.

Featured image: https://www.harcum.edu/s/1044/edu/social.aspx?sid=1044&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=6278&ecid=6278&crid=0&calpgid=880&calcid=4065

Image of Dr. King: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr._Day