Today in 1929...

"The birth of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King"

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15th, 1929. His Father, Martin Luther King Sr., was a minister to the Baptist church and himself a prominent Civil Rights activist. MLK Jr., of course, went on to even greater things, leading the civil rights movement in the 60s whilst advocating nonviolent resistance. Way to go, MLK! He was assassinated in 1968.

Most know him for his speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The "I Have A Dream" speech. It seems right to put it here, on this blog. Why not? The full text is here.

King's Birthday

In the late 70s, a movement to commemorate King's birthday with a holiday began to emerge. Over to Wikipedia:

"The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. of Representatives in 1979. However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage^. Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive, and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition (King had never held public office)"

The denial of King and his supporters 'their day' does seem to smack of churlishness, or worse. The popular campaign grew, with six million signatures collected for a petition to Congress!! Opposition in the House mirrored similar red-smear attacks on a more recent grassroots movement to elevate a popular black man.

All this aside, Ronald Reagan (who opposed the law at the time, threatening a veto) swore the bill into law finally on the 2nd November, 1983, due in no small part to an enormous majority vote (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate).

The holiday is observed on the third Monday of January. That's next Monday! Now, remind me what else is happening next week...

...could the two things be inter-related? Somehow??

Here's Stevie's campaign song, anyway. Happy Birthday Mr King!

The Quote...

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference"

Ah, great, a Winston Churchill quote. I have a feeling these desk calendars get a lot of source material from Churchill.

I'll be keeping an eye out for this in the coming months, paying close attention to this page of Churchill quotes from www.brainyquote.com. Watch this space!!!!!