Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King’s birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, The nation pauses Monday to remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights icon who would have turned 83 this year had a bullet not cut short his life.

President Barack Obama will mark the holiday with a service project at the Browne Education Campus in Washington on Monday morning, and the first couple will attend the Let Freedom Ring Celebration at the Kennedy Center on Monday evening.

.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to speak at the King Day at the Dome rally in South Carolina on Monday, according to organizers of the event. The event will “commemorate Dr. King’s life, draw attention to economic and educational equalities in the state, and protest the Confederate battle flag flying in front of the (state capitol) building,” organizers said.

A federal holiday to honor King, who was assassinated in April 1968, was first observed in 1986. In 1994, Congress also designated it a national day of service.

MLK honored on his birthday

Students take on “I Have a Dream”

The ‘Mountaintop’ and MLK on Broadway
On Sunday, park rangers placed wreaths at the Washington memorial honoring the civil rights leader. Members of King’s family stood beside the towering 30-foot statue of him as crowds sang “Happy Birthday” at a ceremony.

“We’re celebrating the best of what we are, but also what we must become, knowing that we’ve not arrived there yet,” Martin Luther King III said.

On the civil rights leader’s birthday — January 15, 1968 — Martin Luther King Jr. was planning a “poor people’s campaign” to bring together Americans from all walks of life to demand “decent jobs with decent pay,” his son said.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Although he was assassinated more than four decades ago, the nonviolent movement supported by slain civil rights leader, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., continues to have a profound impact on life in America,

“I have followed, and have been a part of the NAACP through my entire adult life,” Ellis Ray Williams, 90, of Welch said. Williams served in combat during World War II, and survived the Battle of the Bulge. When he returned home, he became an educator in McDowell County and served as principal of the vocational school that served African American students in the McDowell County public school system.

“Of course, I followed Dr. King’s career,” Williams said. “He was such a stirring speaker and a representative, not only of black people, but a representative of people of all races. I’ve been from one end of this country to the other, and can say that our minds were changed by the message Dr. King carried.”

Delegate John Frazier, D-Mercer, was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas on April 4, 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

“The entire base was put on alert,” Frazier said. “There was a fear that rioting might break out in the city, and I think that’s why we were on alert, although I don’t know what I could have done. All I had then was a typewriter.”

Frazier saw the profound impact that King’s death had on several of the black soldiers he was serving with. “I had grown up with young people whose parents were active in the civil rights movement,” Frazier said. “I knew that Martin Luther King had a great impact in the lives of many people. I think it’s great that we have a day set aside to remember him and celebrate his life.”

Dr. Tom Blevins, interim president of Bluefield State College, was a student when King died, and he studied his philosophy as a student would. “As a student, I looked to the philosophies of Dr. King and Bertrand Russell,” Blevins said. “Their words are so profound. In their own way, each has moved mountains.”

MLK QUOTES

MLK QUOTES, One of my favorite MLK “guillemets’’EST this: Everyone can be great … because anybody can serve. You do not have a college degree to serve. You ‘ t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

I think this project (Turning Point) is an excellent example of this quote in action. What began as an idea has snowballed in partnerships that will last and really make an impact at Turning Point Academy.

Stephen Norton, 24, was born 18 years after King’s death. He grew up in Peoria, Ill., and spent a year in Charlotte working for Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps as a volunteer. He and his girlfriend, Mary Bumgardner AmeriCorps volunteers, designed the outdoor classroom that the group will begin to address today.

Service was a part of my life since I was young. Teachings of Martin Luther King influenced me greatly. Just the idea to watch for your neighbors and be ready to sacrifice things in your life to help others – and standing for the people when you see inequality – inspired me to help give people a voice.

As an immigration lawyer Charlotte, Jordan Forsythe, 38, had a lot of what the king facing in its efforts to win equal rights and a voice for the poor. She grew up in New Orleans, where she remembers the huge parades to celebrate the legacy of King. A member of Temple Israel, Forsythe is on the organizing committee for the project today.

The service is very important to me. Currently, our immigration laws, I am reminded daily of the problems Dr. King. Most of my customers have no right to vote. It is extremely restrictive.

I spend most of my time as a lawyer in deportation defense. This can be extremely rewarding, very disappointing – it’s always very moving, regardless of the outcome. The work raises my respect and admiration for what Dr. King was able to accomplish, even with all the challenges he faced. I laws I must follow the rules of court are often adverse to my clients. It hurts like a human being when he is not a positive resolution. But I’m lucky. I’m not facing the fear that Dr. King faced. It was an incredible person to resist that.

Without doubt, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of the scene that takes place today at Turning Point Academy, the CMS alternative school for students with severe discipline problems.

On this 25th anniversary of the federal holiday honoring King, more than 150 volunteers from different faiths, ages and colors will assemble to build garden beds, trellises, and compost bins for an outdoor classroom so that these students could find an appreciation of nature – and ultimately find their way back into a traditional classroom.

Volunteers will also paint the gymnasium bleachers. They have other plans for the school – including corridor wall painting, renovation of a teacher’s lounge – which had to be delayed after the snow last week turned this holiday into a day of makeup students.

Mlk Quotes

Mlk Quotes:Martin Luther King Jr. quotes prove this man had a way with words, a special means of conveying ideas and having people look at the world with a new perspective.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2010, it’s an appropriate time to revisit some of his most memorable quotes, which continue to inspire today.

Here are collection of 25 famous Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

“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.”

“A lie cannot live.”

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan. ”

“A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent.”