Events & Festivals
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Celebration, Significance, Quotes, Date
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes abbreviated as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Every year on the third Monday of January, it is observed. King’s actual birthday is January 15, 1929. (which in 1929 fell on a Tuesday). The holiday is similar to those established by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This holiday falls on the 15th of January and ends on the 21st of January.
King was the Civil Rights Movement’s chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism, protesting racial discrimination in federal and state law. Soon after King’s assassination in 1968, the campaign for a federal holiday in his honor began. The holiday was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states refused to observe the holiday as such, instead of calling it something else or combining it with another holiday. For the first time, it was officially observed in all 50 states in 2000.
When is Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2022?
Every year on the third Monday of January, we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and reflect on the work that remains to be done for racial equality. This January 17, 2022, make the holiday more than just a day off by reflecting on and acting on global civil rights issues.
Who Was Martin Luther King Jr.?
In 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born into a Christian family in Georgia. His grandfather served as a church pastor, and his father followed in his footsteps as a pastor.
“We may have arrived on different ships, but now we’re all on the same boat.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King graduated from high school at the age of 15 and went on to Morehouse College to earn his B. A. in 1948. He was elected president of a predominantly white senior class and awarded the B.D. in 1951 after three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. He enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University after winning a fellowship at Crozer, completing his residency for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. He met and married Coretta Scott in Boston, and the two started a family.
Importance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King Jr. was a well-known civil rights leader. He was a key figure in the civil rights movement in the United States. The “I Have A Dream” speech was his most famous speech. He was a proponent of nonviolent protest and was the Nobel Peace Prize youngest recipient. In 1968, he was assassinated.
Shortly after Martin Luther King’s death in 1968, a campaign was launched to make his birthday a national holiday in his honor. Trade unions led the campaign for the federal holiday after the first bill was introduced. In 1976, it was approved. The bill was signed into law in 1983, thanks to musician Stevie Wonder’s single “Happy Birthday” and a petition with six million signatures. Martin Luther King Day was first observed in 1986, but it was not recognized in all 50 states until 2000. Martin Luther King Jr./Wyoming Equality Day was declared a legal holiday by the Wyoming legislature in 1990.
Martin Luther King Jr. became the pastor of a church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954. King, who was a tireless advocate for civil rights, followed Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence.
“Our scientific might has surpassed our spiritual might. We have guided missiles and men who are misguided.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Is Martin Luther King Jr. Day observed as a national holiday?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed as a national holiday. The general public has the day off, and most schools and businesses are closed.
Martin Luther King Jr Quotes
“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr Inspiring Quotes
“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes On Love
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Nonviolence is an absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not an emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Quotes On Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Best Quotes By Quotes Martin Luther King Jr.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“No person has the right to rain on your dreams.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“You will change your mind; You will change your looks; You will change your smile, laugh, and ways but no matter what you change, you will always be you.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a new federal holiday, with few long-standing traditions. It is observed as a day dedicated to promoting equal rights for all Americans, regardless of race or ethnicity. Some educational institutions commemorate the day by teaching their students or pupils about Martin Luther King’s work and the fight against racial segregation and racism. In recent years, federal legislation has encouraged Americans to volunteer as part of citizen action groups on this day.
Martin Luther King Day, also known as Martin Luther King Jr Day and Martin Luther King’s birthday, is celebrated on a number of different days across the United States. In Arizona and New Hampshire, for example, it is observed alongside Civil Rights Day, while in Idaho, it is observed alongside Human Rights Day. In some states, it is also celebrated on the same day as Robert E. Lee’s birthday. Wyoming Equality Day is observed in the state of Wyoming.
Traditions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King’s revolutionary contributions to racial justice for African-Americans are unrivaled. Schools and offices are closed on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, or MLK Day, but people fully participate in remembering and honoring King’s accomplishments. His values and historical significance in American history are debated and promoted in order to educate communities and future generations about the importance of equality and King’s impact. Movies and documentaries about his life are screened, and businesses and organizations run by and for the African-American community are given support.
Americans are frequently encouraged to use this day not just as a day off from work, but as a “Day of Service” to others by participating in appropriate civic, community, and service projects.
Small businesses, such as grocery stores and restaurants, are typically open on this day, though an increasing number are opting to close.
Some make up for it by opening on Washington’s Birthday. Recently enacted federal legislation encourages Americans to volunteer in citizen action groups on Martin Luther King Day. Public transportation systems may or may not run on a regular basis.
Summing Up:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday that occurs on the third Monday of January each year. It honors Martin Luther King Jr., an influential American civil rights leader, for his life and accomplishments. He is best known for his efforts to end racial segregation on public transportation and to achieve racial equality in the United States.
Labor unions promoted the idea of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday. Following King’s death, U.S. Representative John Conyers and U.S. Senator Edward Brooke introduced legislation in Congress to declare Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.
Spread out the word about this day with your network and let more and more people come to know the true significance of this day.
FAQs:
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When is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (often abbreviated to “MLK Day”) falls on the third Monday in January. Since 1986, it has been a federal holiday. This means that federal employees, as well as many schools and businesses, will be closed on this day. This year in 2022 it will be celebrated on 17th January.
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Why do we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. as a national holiday?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemorates the famous American civil rights leader who dedicated his life to achieving equality for people of all races and ethnicities, hence the day is celebrated as a National holiday.
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What is the theme for Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2022?
The holiday theme for Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2022 is “It starts with me”.
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What is the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a US national holiday commemorating the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader who advocated for nonviolent resistance to racial segregation.
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Which are your favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Quotes? Leave a comment below
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