Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by Swetha Shankar

Many of us high schoolers are always excited at the prospect of a day off from school. Sleeping in, watching hours of Netflix - what could be better? However, this MLK day, we should stop to think about the sacrifices countless people made in the holiday for remembrance.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King's birthday, January 15. This holiday honors the achievements of Dr. King and his impact in the Civil Rights Movement.

The most influential of African American Civil rights leaders during the 1960s, Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. Unfortunately, he was assassinated on April 4th, 1968.

Almost immediately after King’s death, there were calls for a national holiday in his honor. In 1983, efforts to make MLK day a federal holiday finally succeeded when legislators designated the third Monday in January as MLK day. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort. The MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service for others.

Getting involved in the community is a great way to celebrate the work of Dr. King, and it does not even have to be on just MLK day! By volunteering in soup kitchens, make “caring cards” to take to a local senior center or fire house, or even donating food and clothes to the needy, we can impact the lives of many people around us in small ways.

To conclude, although we should be excited for a day off from school in our busy lives, we should also take this time to consider and honor this great leader in American history.