The Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. , often called Martin Luther King Day, is a United States holiday honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday, January 15. It is the only United States federal holiday commemorating an African American and one of only four to commemorate an individual person.
Martin Luther King Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labour unions in contract negotiations. After King's death in 1968, Rep. John Conyers introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday, highlighting King's activism on behalf of trade unionists. Unions did most of the promotion for the holiday throughout the 1970s. In 1976, trade unionists helped to elect Jimmy Carter, who endorsed the King Day bill. After that endorsement, union influence in the King holiday campaign declined, and the King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single "Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. 6 million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 The Nation article as "...the largest petition in favor of an issue in US history."
Comments
Some man/woman writes, "that would be soo kool if bush stepped down a day early and obama sworn in on MLK day but i doubt it would ever happen.
I go to a private college in boston and they are not giving us the day off to celebrate MLK day a federal hoilday...and i don't know what to do about it".
So here we have a college student that can not form a sentence, nor has any idea of capitalization and punctuation.
Martin Luther King. Jr. would turn over in his grave if he knew what his Civil Rights movement has become! Shame on the black people of today, and their enablers!
Blacks stole land from Indians? Well, that's news to me and probably U.S. History being that in most every state it was ILLEGAL for Blacks to own or claim land. As a matter of facts, Blacks were considered property themselves...just like a piece of land. Show me where it's been documented that Blacks ever stole land from anyone! If anything, they have always been the victims of land ownership because even after the government promised them patriation and 40 acres and a mule, it took it back! Leaving the majority of Blacks without any place to call home in the good old United States of America after they slaved away to make this growing economy a world power via the industrial revolutiion. I don't mind different opinions, but at least be honest and factual in what you post.
What I most admired about Martin Luther King is that he stood up for equality for everyone. Even making it possible for women to make progress in every faction of our society. Blacks need their role models and so do others.
I don't bash Obama and I don't bash Bush. I may not agree with Bush 100%, but he is my president and I respect him. Now, Obama is my president and I respect him as well. Let the current president leave office when the Constitution says so, and allow Obama to step in and do his job.
Note: My above post was in response to the person who said Blacks stole land from the Cherokee Indians, but it was posted out of order. Just trying to clarify.
that would be soo kool if bush stepped down a day early and obama sworn in on MLK day but i doubt it would ever happen.
I go to a private college in boston and they are not giving us the day off to celebrate MLK day a federal hoilday...and i don't know what to do about it
The date is Dec. 20th not the 19th.
What would be symbolic is that if people actually read and adheared to the US Constitution! It clearly states that the new president is sworn in at noon on the 20th day of January...check out the 20th Amendment.
If Martin Luther King (MLK) day indeed falls on January 19th, 2009, then I think it would be a great gesture for the Bush administration if they would resign from office 1 day early and allow the first black african american president to take office on MLK Day.
It would be very symbolic and a tremendous gesture for this to occur.
JCC
N. Massapequa, NY
Get over it. I'm really tired of this racist attitude from both sides. Every body wants equality, but everyone wants to be treated differently and wants to be given special exceptions. What about the cruety of the Cherokee Indians whose land, culture, children and religion were stolen by both blacks and whites.
If you truly want equality, let Obama take his oath just as all other presidents have done throughout history. Stop drawing a black/white line down the middle and demanding more and more concessions.
I happen to respect Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he did. However, I think he would turn over in his grave if he knew the black community was still making excuses and causing racism to live on.
I see that your research and knowledge of the worlds economic growth and developement is very limited. You still don'nt get it, its about the money, the wealth that the world has taken from the black community that the US place into the world economy that should have belong to the people who work for it simple, African American. When cotton was king of the American economy. I guess some people thinks that Black people can,nt count.
Well, they sure can't spell.
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