One Los Alamos Celebrates MLK, Jr. With Diversity Week - 5:46 am Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at the 1963 March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. He was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Today marks Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, which is a federal holiday. Courtesy/history.com By Madhavi Garimella On behalf of One Los Alamos “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” –Martin Luther King