Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors his involvement with the civil rights movement and his fight for racial equality on the third Monday every January.
“I believe Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be celebrated because it represents a man who risked so much for African Americans to have rights,” sophomore Imani Cuthrell said.
King organized peaceful protests to advocate for basic civil rights, and he initiated the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott that began on Dec. 1, 1955, which led to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring Montgomery, Alabama’s segregation laws unconstitutional.
At the March on Washington in 1963, King delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, alongside 250,000 demonstrators.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” King said. “I have a dream today.”
To honor his achievements, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his ‘non-violent struggle for civil rights for the African American people, according to The Nobel Prize.
“For a large part of our history, ‘American freedoms’ were only afforded to those who fit a specific racial group, but thanks largely in part to Martin Luther King Jr. and his advocacy for equality, those freedoms are given to all Americans today, including those of us who are people of color, like myself,” English teacher Sarah Burford said. “So many of the accomplishments I have been able to achieve – being able to receive higher education, becoming a teacher, [and more] – are because of trailblazers like Martin Luther King Jr.”
Events in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. are commonly in the form of speeches, rallies or marches.
On Jan. 16, 2025, The Urban League of Hampton Roads hosted the 41st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, followed by The King Project at the Zeiders American Dream Theater on Jan. 17, 2025. Both events honor and celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. through fundraising, visual arts and discussion panels.
“It is a day that we can look to as a society to see how far we have come in time and how far we have come as people,” senior Zi’Hire England said.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Soon after his assassination, the push for a federal holiday honoring King began. President Ronald Reagan signed the law into effect in 1983, and it was first observed on Jan. 20, 1986, according to The Constitution Center.
“King and his impact on this country has served us all,” Burford said.
