Everyone is so excited to get a day off of school and work in January for MLK day but it’s important to understand the backstory as to why we get this day off. Martin Luther King Day became a recognized federal holiday on January 20th, 1986. We celebrate this day because of all of Martin Luther King’s accomplishments during the civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King was a profound civil rights worker who worked to get rid of segregation in cities in the South. On his journey to fully eliminate segregation, he faced struggles with the police and some other citizens who didn’t want segregation to end. His journey to defeat segregation started at the “early age of six years old when he was told by one of his friends that their parents would not allow them to play with each other anymore, with them going to different schools because of segregation.”(Britannica) Martin Luther King was raised in a middle-class family with his mom and dad being college educated. With his dad being a minister he still faced major challenges because of his skin color. Even with all of the oppression that Martin Luther King Jr faced, he still tried to make major changes in society. When he was 15 he attended Morehouse College during a wartime program. When Martin Luther King attended Morehouse College he studied law and medicine, he graduated in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree (Britannica). In 1963 there was a big protest in Birmingham, Alabama. Before the riot, there was a bomb attack that targeted African-American Leaders. The next day, when they were protesting, it turned into a riot, and the police had to use water hoses from the fire hydrant; they also had police dogs out there as well.
Martin Luther King was assassinated on Apr 4, 1968. HE was at Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, and at 6:01 he went outside and got shot. James Earl Ray was the person who shot MLK Jr at his motel. He was convicted of murder in 1969. There was some proof that Martin Luther King Jr was being stalked and that his murder was a planned hit. Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday that was put into place by President Ronald Reagan. He made the day a federal holiday for us to remember how much MLK Jr did for the communities that he served. Also, he put the day into law shortly after Martin Luther King Jr was killed.
The Martin Luther King family sued Jowers, a Memphis cafe owner who said he hired someone else other than James Earl Ray. After they sued, the case took around 4 weeks, and the jury found a Guilty verdict. There was a conspiracy that there were some government agencies that were also involved in the killing of Martin Luther King. There were a lot of rumors that there were high-ranking officials in the FBI who could have very much been a part of the killing of MLK.
Martin Luther King was a profound activist person. He was born on January 15, 1929, was raised in Atlanta Georgia, and died in Memphis TN. He studied law, and he helped put an end to segregation. After all that he has done for the community and the whole African American community, he is one of the most profound activists. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
