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Embassy of the of America U.S. Holidays

Martin Luther , Jr. Day A Day To Serve Others

In 1965 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (center) led a 50-mile march in Alabama to protest discriminatory voter registration laws. AP Photo

artin Luther King Jr. other minorities. King’s work In 1964 Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize once said: “Life’s most caught the attention of the entire for promoting the principle of in the civil Mpersistent and urgent world, creating what he called a rights movement. AP Photo question is: ‘What are you doing “coalition of conscience,” which for others?’” Each year, on Martin helped change American society Luther King Jr. Day, Americans and create new U.S. laws protect- attempt to answer that question by ing civil rights. performing community service. King fought for the rights of Born on January 15, 1929, King African Americans in all aspects became a Baptist minister and of American life. For example, devoted his life to ensuring equal he protested laws that required rights for African Americans and blacks to give up their seats to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day whites on public buses. In 1955, he led a boycott of the public bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, that lasted 385 days. It ended with a U.S. district court ruling that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses. And in August 1963, King led hundreds of thousands of civil rights support- ers in a march on Washington. It was at this event that King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his celebrated speech in which he said, “I have a dream that one day this President Barack Obama encourages Americans to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day by undertaking community service. nation will rise up and live out the In 2011, he marked the national holiday by helping to paint a school lunchroom. AP Photo /J. Scott Applewhite true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that Prize for his work to end racial earn enough money to buy a ham- all men are created equal.’” segregation and racial discrimina- burger and a cup of coffee?” tion. He used his prize money to In 1964, King became the youngest On April 4, 1968, while standing further the objectives of the civil person to receive the Nobel Peace on the balcony of his motel room rights movement. in Memphis, Tennessee, King was Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd In addition to being a champion assassinated by , of 250 thousand people at the Lincoln Memorial during the for the civil rights of African a white supremacist with a long March on Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963. AP Photo Americans, King advocated for the criminal record. King had been in rights of workers. In 1965, King Memphis to lead a protest march said: “The labor movement [in the in sympathy with striking sanita- United States] was the principal tion workers of that city. force that transformed misery and A campaign to honor King began despair into hope and progress. soon after his death. In 1983, Out of its bold struggles, economic President Ronald Reagan signed leg- and social reform gave birth to islation making the third Monday unemployment insurance, old-age of January each year a national pensions, government relief for the holiday to commemorate King. In destitute and above all new wage 1994, the U.S. Congress designated levels that meant not mere sur- the as a national day vival, but a tolerable life.” of service, calling on Americans King believed that all labor has from every walk of life to help real- dignity and that economic justice ize King’s vision of a “beloved com- was a critical component for civil munity” by volunteering their time rights reform. In a 1968 speech, and effort to help others. King asked: “What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an inte- grated lunch counter if he doesn’t

United states department of state Published January, 2012 bureau of international information programs