Yesterday, we celebrated the success of Martin Luther King Jr. with a day off of school. The federal holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15. King was a nonviolent activist in the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. Many of us would know King’s famous, “I have a Dream Speech” given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  His speech called for an end to racism and for equality for all. In 1964, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his civil rights work. The campaign for this federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

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