Every year on the third Monday of January, the United States of America honors Martin Luther King Jr. for all of his great achievements. 

MLK day didn’t become a federal holiday until late 1986, which was nearly 20 years after it was proposed to be a national day to Congress by the King Center. MLK day became nationally recognized in 2000 after a long battle. 

In the 1969, on January 15th,  annual ceremonies commemorating King’s birthday were launched by The King Center in Atlanta, which is an official memorial dedicated to remembering MLK. It called for nationwide ceremonies and began working to gain support for the holiday.

Martin Luther King, Jr is known for his contributions to the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. His most famous work is his “I Have a Dream” speech which he delivered in 1963.

“Although a lot of my peers take this day off from school to hangout and have more free time, I think it’s extremely important we all make an effort to stop in the day and think about the real importance of MLK day,” said junior Sebastian Urtubey.

Through MLK “I have a dream” speech, he spoke of his dreams for a world where the United States to be free of segregation and racism. This speech was important in several ways. It brought an incredible amount of attention to the Civil Rights Movement, which had been going on for many years. The outcome of the speech was the name Martin Luther King was known to the world and was not easily forgotten. The speech even made Congress move faster in passing the Civil Rights Act.

Throughout King’s long life of fighting for what’s right, he had also become a target for white supremacists many times. On September 20, 1958, a group firebombed his family home in order to try and end Kings activism. In September 20, 1958, Izola Ware Curry walked into a Harlem department store where King was doing a book signing and asked him, “Are you Martin Luther King?” When he replied “yes,” she stabbed him in the chest with a knife. King survived, and the attempted assassination proved his dedication to nonviolence.

“The Black Lives Matter movement being so present especially now more than ever, reflecting back on what MLK did for the committee and all of the awareness he brought to racism goes to show that even after all of these years have passed, the fight isn’t over and we must continue to do are part in making a difference,” said sophomore Umi Noritake.

“The experience of these last few days has deepened my faith in the relevance of the spirit of nonviolence, if necessary social change is peacefully to take place,” once said Dr. King.

After a life of fighting  for civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he died at 7:05 p.m.