Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Posted January 12, 2022

Written by: Barbara Bullen

Martin Luther King Jr., (Michael King Jr., 1929-1968) known internationally throughout the world as one of the greatest mediators of all time, is honored yearly. Brought up as a Christian, he followed in his father’s footsteps (Martin Luther King, Sr.) by becoming a Baptist Minister. A man who took it upon himself to eradicate discrimination against blacks along with his wife, Coretta Scott King, his leaders and activists, helped dismantle the barriers that for so long held blacks from having equal rights. The civil rights movement which began in 1955 led to the enactment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which Martin Luther King Jr. was the President. Martin’s mission was to do what ever was necessary in a non-violent way to dismantle discrimination, violence and oppression against blacks which included the use of civil disobedience.

For too long, the laws protected whites in order for blacks to be subservient. He was tired and so were blacks in the South, throughout the United States and around the world, so King participated in and led marches for their civil rights including the right to vote, desegregation and labor rights. King was also instrumental in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott which was a protest against the segregation policies of public transit.

December 5, 1955, the Monday after Rosa Parks sat in the white area of the bus and refused to give her seat to a white person, she was arrested due to the segregation laws on public transit, only permitting her to sit in the back of the bus. King led many nonviolent protest marches and was the key figure helping organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered a speech that electrified the nation with his “I have a Dream speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Part of his speech is listed below because the reinforcement of what King did for the world to change the discriminatory practices and laws need to be remembered by all.

“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 state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of 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!

And when this happens, when we allow 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 the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

1964 saw the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to King for dismantling racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, Martin was instrumental in organizing two marches from Selma to Montgomery in the fight for the right to vote with activists of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1968, Martin was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee when he planned a national occupation of Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is King’s birthday which is a federal holiday signed into bill on November 3, 1983 by President Ronald Reagan for the third Monday of each January.

Martin Luther King Day In Ohio

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY COMMISSION

“The Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission (Commission) was established in 1985 by Executive Order. Today, the DAS Administrative Support Division provides support to the commission.

The Commission is a statewide advocate of Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence and annually honors Ohio’s citizens who work to promote diversity and eliminate discrimination through nonviolent methods. Each year, the Commission presents awards to Ohioans to celebrate the life of Dr. King, whose teachings encourage nonviolent actions to secure equal rights for all Americans. The commemorative celebration is held each January in downtown Columbus.

The Commission strives to carry out Dr. King’s dream of service to others throughout the entire year through various events (Ohio, Department of Administrative Services).”

For further information on the 37th Annual MLK Awards please go their website:

https://das.ohio.gov/Divisions/Equal-Opportunity/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Holiday-Commission

Awards are presented in the following categories.