The special day marks the anniversary of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the renowned civil rights leader. His work was of huge influence and the day in his honor celebrates his life and achievements. He became known for attempting to end racial segration and achieve equality and so on Martin Luther King Day equal rights for Americans are promoted. Most people will have heard of his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech and how he urged non-violent protest. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize. Tragically Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968.
After his death people campaigned for his birthday to become a holiday in his honor. The bill finally became law in 1983 after 6 million signatures were gathered on a petition and the first year that Martin Luther King Day was observed was in 1986. It was not until the year 2000 though that all states observed the day. More about the timeline for the creation of Martin Luther King Day can be found at 123holiday.net here.
Martin Luther King Day is also referred to as Martin Luther King Jr Day, also Martin Luther King’s birthday and sometimes MLK Day and some states celebrate it alongside another occasion. For example in Idaho it is also Human Rights Day while in New Hampshire and Arizona it is also Civil Rights Day, according to timeanddate.com. Some corporations and also non-essential government departments close for the day while some public transport may not operate to regular schedules. Although some schools and colleges close for the federal holiday, some remain open and those use the day to educate students about the work of Martin Luther King Jr. Many smaller establishments remain open.
More recently another way of marking the occasion is that some people have begun acting as volunteers with citizen action groups for the day. You can find out more about this year’s MLK Day of Service here.
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