Celebrating MLK Day

By Olivia Gorum

Each year, the third Monday of January marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day where we pause in remembrance of civil rights hero Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. While it is now a federal holiday, affecting offices, schools, businesses as well as private and public spaces, it was definitely not easy to create. In fact, 15 long years of fighting went into the consideration of a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It all started just four days after King’s assassination with John Conyers, a Democratic Congressman from Michigan. Conyers took to Congress insisting on a holiday honoring King, yet he was met with silence. After his first bill failed, Conyers continued to re-introduce the same bill over and over gathering co-sponsors along the way. Eventually, after the bill was introduced year after year and met with failure, the tide began to turn. In the early 1980’s, with the help of the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus), they collected six million signatures in support of the federal holiday, and Stevie Wonder even wrote a hit song, “Happy Birthday” about King. This, of course, only encouraged more public support for the holiday. Following some rather tense moments in Congress, the bill was passed and President Ronald Regan immediately signed the legislation. Although the first federal holiday was celebrated in 1986, it took many years for all fifty states to participate in remembrance and celebration of MLK. Several southern states combined MLK Day with holidays that uplifted Confederate leader Robert E. Lee. It wasn’t until 2000 that every state in the Union observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Today, while many celebrate the federal holiday in honor of the assassinated civil rights leader, there are still states, cities, and towns, that package it as a broader celebration of both Dr. King and Confederate leaders.