Today is Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday. Since 1986, King’s birthday has been celebrated as an official federal holiday.
In celebration of King’s life his memory is celebrated by a call to service. The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.
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King best known for his active yet passive advocacy in seeking equality for African Americans and then many other groups thereafter pursued civil rights through rallies, speeches, and organizing. King’s pursuit was driven by his belief that rights desired and demanded could be obtained peacefully in accordance with his Christian beliefs.
King perhaps one of the greatest orators of our time historians say, won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through non-violent means in October 1964.
The March on Washington was for jobs and freedom. It is perhaps one of the most important days in the history of the civil rights movement, historians say, since it was on that day King gave what has become to be known as the “I have a dream” speech.
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More than a quarter of a million people of diverse backgrounds attended the event that day, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.’s history, media reports say.
Kings role in the march and its turnout helped in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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King was assassinated on April 4 1968 and James Earl Ray was later convicted for murdering King.
Posthumously King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
For more information about the life and times of Martin Luther King please visit the The King Center.
