Martin Luther King Jr. Day

 

            Today we honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his fellow civil rights activists who worked for a more equitable society for all. Civil rights leaders such as Dr. King, Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, and many more fought against national policy by holding boycotts, sit ins, marches, and other peaceful protests to bring light and change to the treatment of people of color and end segregation.

            Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Georgia with the name Michael. However, his father changed his name to Martin after the reverend Martin Luther, and Dr. King's name was changed in suit. The family moved to Atlanta and Martin Sr. became reverend of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Martin Jr. was brought up in the church and later went on to become the reverend of the same church his father and grandfather served.

            Having experienced segregation throughout his life, Martin Luther King, Jr. was very passionate about ending segregation and spoke out in opposition of it. Dr. King organized marches and protests drawing national attention to the issue of segregation. Throughout his life, Martin remained firm in the need for peaceful protest to change the conditions of people of color and to create an equitable society. While others tried to use violent, scare tactics to end the protests, Dr. King, other civil leaders, and their followers remained peaceful. This helped their cause and slowly the signs calling for segregation came down across America.

            The work of these change-makers lead to national policy changes as well as the start of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a coalition of black churches across the south that could organize and peacefully fight against systemic racist policies and actions. As you go throughout your life this week, take a moment to look at where you can go and who is there with you; it is because of of this coalition, civil rights unrelenting fight, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that your life looks the way it does.