January 20th, the third Monday of every year, or better known as a day to commemorate one of history’s most influential figures. While some people only see the day as a short break from school, it is important to see past the insignificance of that and truly honor the selfless acts Martin Luther King Jr. performed which shaped our country for years to come.
Martin Luther spent his whole life working against the acts of segregation and discrimination against black individuals with his acts of peaceful protesting, holding different marches and speeches to help portray his word to the town. One of his most well known speeches was the “I Have a Dream” speech. With this speech, he tried to show the people who believed against what he thought to be true that a society could not run peacefully with unequal ways of treating its members. He envisioned a world with people that would be “judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.”
His fight for world peace was not easy by any means, as he was faced with large amounts of discrimination in his life. He was severely punished, being arrested 30 times, with his last time in prison being in 1967. Not only was he arrested, he was also harassed, targeted, and threatened. The main reasons claimed against his arrest were his “civil disobedience”, while in reality he was only speaking towards what he felt was right for the world.
In 1983, Martin Luther King day was made an official federal holiday, with the bill being signed by former President Ronald Reagan on November second. This day is not only a chance to commemorate what he has done to advance our modern-day society, but a chance to learn more about the true history and story behind the day. Our world is still faced with everyday challenges of discrimination, and a reminder needs to be made of the problems with racial injustice we are still faced with.
As we come closer to MLK day, remember that his goals and aspirations can still be attained today, and are far from complete. Our generation will be the one to make a difference in this world, and it is the youths job to carry on his past messages into our new and developing society, and even help to bring in new ideas to make his dream a complete reality!