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January 18, 2021 12:20 AM
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday in January, although Dr. King was actually born on the 15th of January 1929, 92 years ago.
Below are some facts and numbers related to the federal holiday, in which Americans are encouraged to participate in a day of service. The numbers tell the story.
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.
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According to an annual survey by Bloomberg Law, only 45 percent of private employers closed their doors for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2019. This is an increase over years prior a decade before, this number was less than 30 percent. It’s clear that American values are shifting. You might consider the relationship between Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and your business’ values when reviewing your list of corporate holidays.
Dr. King’s Legacy
Dr. King’s role in our country’s history as an activist, minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner is unmistakable. His leadership during events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Sanitation Workers’ Strike and March on Washington accelerated the movement toward racial justice around the country. His famous “I Have a Dream” speech and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” set the tone for future activists like Stacey Abrams, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Dera
‘No person has the right to rain on your dreams’: Civil rights icon MLK Jr. born on this day in 1929
Updated Jan 15, 2021;
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Civil rights activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929.
Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day – a federal holiday to celebrate and honor the work of King who was assassinated in 1968 as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tenn.
When he was born, King was named Michael just as his father was. His father, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., changed his name to Martin in honor of the German Protestant religious leader Martin Luther, according to biography.com. Michael Jr. later also changed his named.
The high-stakes U.S. Senate race in Georgia catapulted the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church back into the spotlight. For 135 years, the church played a vital role in the fight against racism and the civil rights movement. It was the spiritual home of the civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is now the home of the state’s first Black senator – the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at the church.
As a scholar of African American religion and Christian theology, I believe it is important to understand how the Ebenezer Baptist Church has been a seat of Black power and organizing for generations in Atlanta.