Martin Luther King Jr Day History, Wishes & Images- January 17, 2023

Martin Luther King Jr Day

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” - Dr. Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Junior a real-life hero, a perfect role model, and an influential American civil rights leader, well-known for his campaigns for racial equality and to end racial segregation on public transport in the United States.

Martin Luther King JR Day

Martin Luther King Jr., born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia was an American Baptist activist and minister who led the civil rights movement through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by Christian beliefs and Mahatma Gandhi. He led the marches for the rights of blacks living in America like the right to vote, labor rights, desegregation, and other basic civil rights.

King received a doctorate in theology and 1955 helped organize the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott movement, the first major protest for the civil rights of African-Americans. Being a powerful speaker, King appealed to Christian and American ideals for support. King also won the support from Northern whites and the federal government. In 1963, Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph led the massive march on Washington, the main agenda of the march was jobs and freedom. The event gathered two thousand and 500 hundred people outside the Lincoln Memorial and He delivered the famous “ I have a dream” speech.

According to John Lewis: “Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations."

King always opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War. As American were spending money and resources on war that could have been spent on social welfare at home. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

In 1964, the two great success achieved: the rectification of the 24th amendment, which abolished the poll tax, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that prohibited racial discrimination in education and employment and outlawed racial segregation in public facilities. On October 14, 1964, King was the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated.

After his death, King remained the most widely known African-American leader of the era. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. The third Monday in January is celebrated as a holiday in the United States honoring the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr, it was first celebrated in 1986. A King memorial was built upon the Mall in Washington D.C., near the Lincoln memorial, the same site where he delivered his famous speech “I have a dream”.

As with the lives of major historical figures, different scholars have interpreted the King’s life in different ways. Studies of King continue to acknowledge his distinctive leadership role. He once quoted “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. His activities have changed the history of America and filled many lives with freedom and equality.

Martin Luther King JR