Tag: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Nothing has shocked me more than when I moved to Rhode Island in 1988 and learned the state had yet to observe the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which was federalized in 1983, with official observance beginning in 1986. On MLK Day that year, I was assigned to go to a high school in the northern suburbs and write a story about a history teacher who always devoted the holiday to teaching about the civil rights movement. To his 16-year-old students, the ’60s were ancient history, and he wanted to make sure they understood the historical context and why it was still relevant to their lives.

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park—which includes the visitor center, King's birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the historic Fire Station No. 6—has been closed since the government shutdown began on December 22, but thanks to a grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation and money from NPS recreation fees, the park will reopen for the King holiday on and stay open through Super Bowl LIII.

Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”

A week from being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States and days before the federal holiday commemorating Martin Luther King Jr., Donald J. Trump took umbrage with criticism levied by Georgia congressman John Lewis, who questioned the legitimacy of Trump’s election, what with the steady drip of reports about Russian hacking and all.

Picture Martin Luther King Jr., and you likely imagine him leading marchers across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, or speaking before a quarter million civil rights supporters on the mall in Washington D.C. But perhaps no place is more closely connected to King than Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta

This January has everything: Monster trucks, marching bands, the Little Mermaid, a submarine car, and more!

On January 19, join Hands On Atlanta for its 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.