Photo: Flickr.com/bswise. License: Creative Commons – Photo has not been altered or changed.
It is hard to overstate the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the eleven years between 1957 and 1968, according to NobelPrize.org, “King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action.” Not only was King an accomplished orator, but he was a prolific author and essayist, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and a leading figure in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King is, without question, one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and while the nation collectively observes the inauguration of a returning President, our attention is drawn towards other events that took place in Washington D.C. 61 years ago. In 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, attended by 250,000 demonstrators, was a protest against the economic and civil inequalities experienced by African Americans. On August 28, and while standing at the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivered his rousing “I Have a Dream” speech, the words of which continue to echo into 2025: “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.” Making that dream a reality is, as the White House noted in 2024, “the task of our time.”
Despite his considerable, wide-ranging achievements, Martin Luther King Jr. Day has only been commemorated in all 50 states since the year 2000. While the concept of a day dedicated to King was suggested almost as soon as he had been assassinated, the legislation to introduce the federal holiday was not signed until 1983. Prior to that, the bill had been rejected in the House of Representatives and had received only limited congressional support for 15 years. Fortunately, King’s advocates – including his widow Coretta Scott King – were steadfast in their determination to dedicate a day to his memory. The third Monday in January was ultimately chosen as the date, as it typically falls near King’s birthday on the 15th.
Inspired by a man who always chose love and nonviolence – he considered hate “too great a burden to bear” – Zazzle honors the work and philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. today. To observe this important day, and to celebrate the legacy of King’s groundbreaking vision, we encourage you to visit The King Center, to volunteer in your community, or to read any of the 5 books King authored himself.
