Martin Luther King Jr. is a household name across the nation. He was one of the greatest Civil Rights heroes of our time and his legacy is not soon to be forgotten. From his non-violent civil rights protests to becoming the youngest ever Nobel Peace prize recipient, there is much for which to remember him . In the mid 1950’s King faced violent harassment, destruction of his home, and arrest as he led a thirteen month long boycott of the Montgomery city bus lines. This was the start of what would become a long ordeal leading to the U.S. Supreme Court finding bus segregation to be unconstitutional. It was also the start of what would come to be known as one of the great Civil Rights stories of the twentieth century.
In 1963 Time Magazine named Martin Luther King “Man of the Year.” In 1964, at the age of thirty five, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Throughout his life King was constantly striving towards civil rights and peace.
Just four days after his assassination in April of 1968, it was suggested that his birthday be declared a national holiday. At first the idea was looked upon with little consideration of it being a possibility. Then, in January of 1969, twelve hundred workers employed at an automotive plant in New York stayed home to observe King’s birthday and were penalized. One year later one of the largest series of petitions ever circulated in the United States (totaling nearly six million signatures) was submitted to Congress in an effort to legally observe Dr. King’s birthday as a national holiday. The idea was still not welcomed by many, mostly due to financial concerns. It would cost the federal government nearly twenty million dollars to declare a new holiday and each state would spend nearly half of that total to recognize the day as a legal holiday. Without holding direct patriotic or religious value, it was a great struggle to declare the day a holiday. It would also be the first day observed as a legal national holiday since Memorial Day was declared a holiday in 1948. Finally in 1986, eighteen years after the idea was brought about, Martin Luther King Junior Day was legally declared a national holiday. This past Monday marked the twenty first anniversary of the holiday. Schools nation wide were closed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.
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