A leader of the Civil Right movements and a pivotal figure in our country Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has captivated the attention of the United States. On Jan. 17 we observed the 25th anniversary of his holiday.
Born on Jan. 15, 1929, King graduated high school at the age of 15, received his Bachelor’s Degree from Morehouse College in 1948 and his Docotrate Degree from Boston College in 1955. While in Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, they would go on to have two sons and daughters.
King came from a family of pastors, both his grandfather and father were pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King himself serves as co-pastor from 1960 until his death. In 1954 King became pastor of his own church named Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
A believer in non-violent activism, King believed that these types of organized protests against the Jim Crow Laws, a system of segregation, would help lead to racial equality. King often faced harsh opposition to his believes, throughout his life he was put in jail, stabbed, tracked by the FBI, and had any threats on his life.
King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott which started in Dec. 1955. The protest, which was activated after the arrest of Rosa Parks, was intended to stop the city’s system of racial segregation used on their buses. A Federal Court upheld a ruling saying that Alabama’s racial segregation laws were unconstitutional in Nov. 1956. The Boycott, which officially ended on Dec. 20, 1956, lasted 381 days.
During the “March on Washington” King gave his historic “I Have a Dream Speech” on Aug. 28, 1953. Delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the speech called for the end of discrimination and the beginning of racial equality.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to King in 1964. At thirty-five King was the youngest man to have received this award. When King found out about this, he said he would donate his prize money to help future the Civil Rights Movement.
While standing on the balcony on his motel room, King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Shortly after King’s death in 1968, a bill was introduced in attempt to make his birthday a national holiday. In 1979, the bill was voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives but fell five votes short needed to become a national holiday.
Coretta Scott King continued to fight for the approval of the national holiday. She testified before congress several times and tried to get national support for the King-holiday bill. Steve Wonder became an important figure in the support group when he released ‘Happy Birthday” in 1980, which became a rally cry for people who wanted the bill passed.
After a few more years of struggle, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday for King on Nov. 2, 1983. The holiday has been observed on the third Monday of each January since 1992, all 50 U.S. states officially observed the holiday in 2000.
Dr. Boikai S. Twe, Chairperson of Psychology and advisor for the African American Culture Club, believes that King was a revolutionary leader.
“In a country that is very violent, King believed we could bring major social change through non-violence,” Twe said. “He attempted to bring a more human society where as he said ‘We should be judged by the content of our character not the color of our skin.”
Twenty-five years after King’s death, Twe believes that some progress has been made towards King’s dream. But there are also other indications of resistance.
“The election of President Barack Obama is a clear indication that Dr. King’s legacy is being recognized,” Twe said. “But the use of hate speech and the use of violence instead of dialogue to settle political scores shows that we still have work to do as a society.”
Former Student Kimemia Migwe, believes with more education hopefully we can learn from our past mistakes.
“We have made a lot of progress but there is a long way to go. We still have injustice, racism and oppression in our society,” Migwe said “But the more educated and involved we become that will give us a better hope for change. It may start of as something small, but over time it will evolve to a big change.”
Sinclair and other local events are held to help recognize King. One of those events was the MLK holiday and Community Service forum. An annual event since 2000, it talks about King’s ideals and how we can improve in them.
“We have speakers who recite some of King’s speeches and we also talk about standing up for human rights,” Migwe said. “It’s all about people having the chance to obtain the American dream, regardless of race or religion.”
Maybe one day the words from King’s I have a dream speech will become reality, but as of today many people are still trying to move society toward what King wanted.
“We can continue to strive for a more peaceful non-violent society,” Twe said. “It’s something worth fighting for, Dr. King wanted a society where we are seeing ourselves of brothers and sisters rather than just focusing on ourselves.