On Jan. 17, Martin Luther King day was celebrated throughout the nation.  This holiday is annually observed on the third Monday of January.  It honors the life and work of the prominent civil rights advocate Martin Luther King, Jr. who fought until his dying day for the equality and rights of black people.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929, and throughout his upbringing in the South he faced extreme racial discrimination, like most other people of color.  At age six, the parents of one of his white friends forbid them from playing with him, and this is just one example of how his race impacted his life.  King was motivated by what he went through and devoted his life to fighting for equal rights and a better life for black people.

He rose to prominence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, as one of the main leaders of this thirteen-month mass protest.  This was a peaceful protest, which is the type of protest King always advocated for.  He believed that nonviolent civil disobedience was much more effective and morally correct than violent demonstrations.  The Montgomery Bus Boycott protested segregated seating on public buses and is regarded as the first large-scale American demonstration against segregation, and was King’s first major boycott.  Following the protest, he founded the SCLC, or Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which coordinated and assisted local organizations working for the full equality of African Americans.

One time, when he was in Harlem, Izola Ware Curry attempted to assassinate him by stabbing him in the chest. She walked up to him and asked him if he was Martin Luther King, and when he said yes, she stabbed him with a knife. However, he lived through it, and this attempt at assasination only made him feel more strongly about the importance of nonviolence.

“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,” said King in Harlem Hospital (history.com).

In 1963, King led the March on Washington, a political demonstration held in D.C. protesting racial discrimination and advocating for the passage of the Civil Rights Act.  This is where Martin Luther King delivered his most famous speech to a crowd of 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The “I Have a Dream” speech was a call for equality and freedom for black people. It is both one of the most iconic speeches in American history and one of the most defining moments of the Civil Rights Movement.  Before he delivered this speech, the demonstrations for racial justice were mostly in the South, but King’s words shifted this fight for civil rights to a national stage.

Martin Luther King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which criminalized discrimination in public places and in workplaces and abolished the Voting Rights Act.  In 1964, he was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

On April 4, 1968, King was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.  Almost immediately after he was pronounced dead, people started pushing for a national holiday in his honor.  Starting in 1970, many cities and states started making his birthday, January 15, a day of remembrance, but there was resistance on racial and political grounds for making it a federal holiday.

Both Idaho and Arizona opposed this holiday, but the last state to pass it was New Hampshire.  New Hampshire finally approved the celebration under the name of “Civil Rights Day,” but refused to refer to it as Martin Luther King Day until much later.  In 1983, the legislation was passed that made the third Monday in January a federal holiday, and the first nationwide observance was in 1986.

“On Martin Luther King Day, we always learn about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy in class to commemorate him,” said junior Eliana Salloum.

To honor Martin Luther King, Jr., around the time of the holiday, schools usually teach about him and his story.  Especially in younger grades, students spend a lot of time learning about who he is and the legacy he left for the United States.  Also, the day is often celebrated with town or city-wide marches and parades, and there are typically speeches by civil rights and political leaders.

Every year, there is a march held in his honor at the Lincoln Memorial, which is where the March on Washington took place in 1963.  It is a very popular event, and there is evena virtual “march” accessible to anyone who can’t be physically present.  The Martin Luther King, Jr. Virtual Peace Walk is one way to commemorate him this year and keep his message alive.

“Now that there are virtual alternatives for practically anything, it is now much easier to pay honor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and I plan on joining an online peace march this year,” said senior Michelle Gordon.

Martin Luther King Day falls on Jan. 17 this year, and it is much more than just a day off from school.  To celebrate, you can watch his “I Have a Dream” speech, research his life and read articles such as this one, join a virtual march like the virtual “March” on Washington, and even take a virtual tour of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.