MLK Day encourages service

Video above: Mural in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday in January, although Dr. King was actually born on Jan. 15, 1929, 92 years ago.Mrs. Coretta Scott King and musician Stevie Wonder fought for years to make it a federal holiday. Wonder told CNN that they started with tours and marches in the early 1980s. “And so our first march was in 1981, and we had another one in ’82, ’83. And then ultimately the bill was signed by President Reagan.”Below are some facts and numbers related to the federal holiday, in which Americans are encouraged to participate in a day of service.”That’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people.”From the King sermon delivered on the night of April 3, 1968, at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. Titled “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” it was his last speech.Source: Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University65 YEARS AGODec. 1, 1955 — The Montgomery Bus BoycottThe Montgomery Bus Boycott against segregated seating lasted approximately one year, starting Dec. 1, 1955. This is what Dr. King said in his book, “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”: We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.Source: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.52 YEARS AGOFeb. 4, 1968 — Dr. King encourages his congregation to seek greatness through service and love”Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,” Dr. King said in his sermon “The Drum Major Instinct.” Mrs. King read the same statement when, in 1994, she asked Congress to make the holiday an official national day of humanitarian service.Source: Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University52 YEARS AGOApril 8, 1968 — The first legislative bill to establish Martin Luther King Jr. DayRep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) sponsored the bill to establish the federal holiday on April 8, 1968.Source: National Archives; Congressional Record41 YEARS AGO1980 — Wonder calls for a day of remembranceWonder’s release of “Happy Birthday,” a song asking for a day “in full remembrance.”Source: Billboard; Universal Music Group37 YEARS AGONov. 2, 1983 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day becomes a national holidayPresident Ronald Reagan signed the November 3, 1983, legislation, creating the national holiday, which started in 1986.Source: Congressional Record; National Archives35 YEARS AGOJan. 20, 1986 — The very first national celebrationIn proclaiming Jan. 20, 1986, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President Reagan wrote, “Dr. King’s activism was rooted in the true patriotism that cherishes America’s ideals and strives to narrow the gap between those ideals and reality.”Source: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum; U.S. Government Publishing Office26 YEARS AGOAug. 23, 1994 — The holiday becomes a day of serviceThe holiday became a day of service on Aug. 23, 1994, when President Bill Clinton signed the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday and Service Act.Source: AmeriCorps; The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara