Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King is arguably the best known civil rights leader — he was born Michael King Jr. (not Martin) on January 15, 1929. His father, a pastor at a Baptist church in Atlanta, traveled to Germany and became inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. He was so inspired that King Sr. changed his own name as well as that of his 5-year old son.
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that created a federal holiday to honor King. The holiday, first commemorated in 1986, is celebrated on the third Monday in January, close to the civil rights leader’s January 15 birthday. The only other Americans to have had their birthdays observed as a national holiday are George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
On September 20, 1958, Martin Luther King Jr. was in Harlem signing copies of his new book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” in Blumstein’s department store when he was approached by Izola Ware Curry. The woman asked if he was Martin Luther King Jr. After he said yes, Curry said, “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and she plunged a seven inch letter opener into his chest. The tip of the blade came to rest alongside his aorta, and King underwent hours of delicate emergency surgery. Surgeons later told King that just one sneeze could have punctured the aorta and killed him. From his hospital bed where he convalesced for weeks, King issued a statement affirming his nonviolent principles and saying he felt no ill will toward his mentally ill attacker.
Many believe that King’s last public speech foretold his death…. he had come to Memphis in April 1968 to support the strike of the city’s Black garbage workers, and in a speech on the night before his assassination, he told an audience at the Mason Temple Church: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now… I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
He was a very gifted student — he skipped grades 9 and 12 and enrolled in 1944 at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather. Morehouse president Benjamin Mays was a noted theologian and convinced King to enter the ministry and he was ordained while at Morehouse before graduating with a degree in sociology.
The civil rights leader went to jail 29 times. He was arrested for acts of civil disobedience and on some trumped-up charges — he was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama in 1956 for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
So today should mean more than just a day off — Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his work on racial equality and ending racial segregation in the United states. We should take some time today to at least reflect on civil rights issues across the globe.
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