Today January 20th, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a legislation that established Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday.
Born on January 15th, 1929, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the third generation of men in his family to graduate from Morehouse College with honors. He stood out for his academic excellence and went on to earn his doctorate from Boston University.
He met and married Coretta Scott in Boston, and they raised two daughters and two sons together. King became pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954.
Upset by the unfair ways that Black Americans were treated, King decided to become actively involved in fighting for their civil rights. He was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP.
(Marchers carrying signs demanding equal rights and jobs. More than 200,000 people participated in the March on Washington demonstrations. The throng marched to the Mall and listened to Civil Rights leaders, clergyman and others addressed the crowd, including Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Photo by Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images)
In 1955, when Rosa Parks was arrested because she would not give up her bus seat to a white passenger, King led a non-violent bus boycott that lasted 382 days.
Despite dangerous attacks on his church, his home, and his family, King never lost faith or determination. Though his home was bombed and he was arrested, he fearlessly led the movement.
The boycott was a success, ending the separation of races on public transport, and making the nation aware of the need for civil rights reform.
Elected as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King used the peaceful methods of another important human rights activist, Mahatma Gandhi, which he combined with his own Christian faith, to promote equal rights for all races of people.
He traveled around the country, giving speeches and writing articles and books. He organized opportunities for Black Americans to register to vote. Dr. King’s most famous speech was in front of over 250,000 people who gathered at the March on Washington.
In his speech, King spoke about his dream. He dreamed that his descendants would one day live in a world where they would be judged by their accomplishments, not by the color of their skin. His inspirational words are still some of the most quoted today.
(US clergyman and civil rights leader Martin Luther King (C) speaks with US Pastor Martin Sargent (L) of the American Church of Paris on October 24, 1965 in Paris, after preaching at the service. During the march of August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech in which he called for an end to racism, and which mobilized supporters of desegregation and prompted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was assassinated on April 04, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee and his killing sent shock waves through American society at the time, and is still regarded as a landmark event in recent US history. (Photo by AFP) Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
He met with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. His mission caused him to be arrested by some, and honored by others. When King was a young 35 years old, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
He donated the money earned from the prize back into the fight for civil rights. Had Dr. King been able to live out his full life, there is no doubt he would have continued to be a positive force for change during the Civil Rights Movement.
Unfortunately, his life was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.
((L-R) Coretta Scott King, son Dexter, sister-in-law Christine Farris, Pierce, Abernathy & President Reagan pose for photographs after proclamation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, January 12, 1988. Photo by Diana Walker/Getty Images)
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died on April 4th, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was preparing to lead another protest march for the rights of workers who were being unfairly treated.
Each January, we celebrate his birthday to honor his dream, and remember all that he did to protect the rights of all of the people of the United States.
Hip-Hop and R&B artists came together for the tribute single “King Holiday,” that was released on January 13th, 1986.
Written by Phillip Jones, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel and Bill Adler.
Performed by El DeBarge, Whitney Houston, Stacy Lattisaw, Lisa Lisa with Full Force, Teena Marie, Menudo, Stephanie Mills, New Edition, James ‘JT’ Taylor, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, Melle Mel, Run-D.M.C. and Whodini.
“King Holiday” was produced by Phillip Jones and Kurtis Blow. The video was directed by Michele Clark Jenkins.
Our very own, legendary Prince donated the entire $90,000 that was needed to film the video. The video was shot at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. It starts with Dexter King answering questions from kids, telling them about Dr. King.
The project was spearheaded by Martin Luther King Jr.‘s son, Dexter Scott King. He reached out to Kurtis Blow, who arranged it all.
“King Holiday” also features a sample of Martin Luther King‘s famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
Money raised from the song went to benefit the MLK Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, GA. The single sold over 100,000 copies.
Screen capture from the CBS national broadcast of the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968), Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. King Jr. delivered his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to over 200,000 supporters at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
“I Have a Dream,” delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 23, 1963.
l say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…
I have a dream today.
(Presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis (2R) and his wife Kitty (R) walking with Coretta Scott King (3L), Rev. Jesse Jackson (2L) and Dexter King (L) during 25th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, 1988. Photo by Steve Liss/Getty Images)
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama… will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
(On the National Mall, participants in the March on Washington for Jobs, Peace, & Freedom pass the Washington Monument, Washington DC, August 27, 1983. A large banner, sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, includes an illustration of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and reads ‘We Have A Dream.’ The event took place on the 20th anniversary of the original March of Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr King delivered his historic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Photo by Ann E. Zelle/Getty Images)
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and mole-hill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
Portrait of a group of participants in the March on Washington for Jobs, Peace, & Freedom as they sit on blankets on the National Mall, Washington DC, August 27, 1983. One woman wears a pin that reads ‘AFSCME [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees] Shares the Dream.’ The event took place on the 20th anniversary of the original March of Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his historic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Photo by Ann E. Zelle/Getty Images)
