As the nation commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here are ways to learn more about him
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Monday, the nation will remember one of its greatest civil rights leaders.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been observed in all 50 states since 2000, but President Ronald Reagan signed the federal holiday into law in 1983.
King, an American Baptist minister, was the son of a civil rights activist and a proponent of nonviolent resistance who was active in numerous campaigns to address racial inequality.
He’s perhaps most remembered for his “I Have A Dream” speech, which he gave during the 1963 March on Washington, DC.
In December 1964, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to address racial prejudice in the United States through nonviolent resistance.
He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. His assassination was followed by riots in cities across the nation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, Jan. 15 – the actual date of King’s birthday – issued a proclamation in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the state of California.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us that we are ultimately measured not by where we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but by the stands we take during times of challenge and controversy. The events of the past year have presented our state with no shortage of challenges, among them the ongoing struggle against systemic injustice in all its forms.
“More than 50 years after his passing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideals are more salient than ever. His legacy reminds us that moral leadership does not require a person to be in elected office or hold a position of power. Instead, exercising moral authority requires the will to do the right thing. Standing on the shoulders of civil rights leaders before him and working in concert with a generation of activists, Dr. King helped transform how our country saw itself and its future.
“Dr. King provided a framework for how each of us can shape the future: Call out injustice and work toward something better. His legacy and clarion call to us all lives on in all those fighting for justice amid the many threats to it today. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequities and deep disparities in our society, with people of color disproportionately affected by its devastating health and economic impacts. Furthermore, the Black Lives Matter protests of this summer shined a light on the continuing racial injustice that we can, and must, do more to address. Let us gather strength from Dr. King’s legacy and use our moral authority to push for a more equitable state, society and world,” the proclamation concludes.
The following are some ways to commemorate the day and learn more about Dr. King.
Watch ‘The March’
“The March” follows the March on Washington, known more formally as the March for Jobs and Freedom, in 1963.
The movie, directed by James Blue, underwent a full digital restoration by the Motion Picture Preservation Lab in 2008, to mark the march’s 50th anniversary.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom, the Motion Picture Preservation Lab completed a full digital restoration of James Blue's monumental film, The March, in 2008.
It is shared by the US National Archives and can be viewed above.
Read ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’
In April 1963, King was part of a campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, to confront racial injustice and that city’s policy of segregation.
King was arrested for participating in those protests and housed in the city’s jail.
While there, he wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” which Samford University history professor Jonathan Bass has called “the most important written document of the Civil Rights Era.”
Read the letter here:
https://www.lakeconews.com/component/content/article/29-opinion/23233-martin-luther-king-jr-letter-from-a-birmingham-jail?Itemid=437
Read – or listen to – the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech
Given during the 1963 March on Washington, King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is one of the most famed speeches in American history.
In it, he imagines an America where people of all races live peacefully together, where people are judged by their character, not the color of their skin, and freedom and justice replace oppression.
Read the speech here:
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom
Listen to it here:
http://okra.stanford.edu/media/audio/630828000.mp3
Read about one pastor’s friendship with King in seminary
In January 2011, the Rev. Dr. Charles Harlow, then a Clearlake resident, shared with Lake County News the story of his friendship with King while the two attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania.
It was King who welcomed him, shook his hand and helped him tote his bags.
The two men would remain friends until King’s death in 1968.
Read the story here:
https://www.lakeconews.com/news/17853-harlow-kings-life-teaches-the-importance-of-peace-working-the-dream
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]