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Web offers look at Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Every year on the third Monday in January, UB observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This holiday, which commemorates the life and legacy of the civil rights leader, was first proposed four days after King’s assassination in 1968 in Memphis, Tenn. It took 15 years of lobbying on the part of labor unions and civil rights groups to get the holiday signed into federal law in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. It was observed for the first time on Jan. 20, 1986.
As described in a 2006 article in the Nation entitled “Working-Class Hero” by William P. Jones, the campaign for the holiday included the presentation to Congress by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, of a petition containing 6 million signatures in favor of the King Day holiday. It was the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history, according to Jones. It was not until Jan. 17, 2000, that all 50 states officially observed the anniversary of King’s birth as a state holiday. A fuller description of the genesis of the King Day holiday can be found on Wikipedia.
A holiday honoring the slain leader of such an important movement in this nation’s history can be an opportunity for learning and reflection, with the Web providing numerous forums, such as Memphis We Remember, the National Civil Rights Museum Gallery, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement and the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. The University Libraries Web site provides access to the Oxford African American Studies Center, a compilation of more than 8,000 scholarly articles on a full range of topics in African-American studies, including material on King, other civil rights leaders, the civil rights movement of the 20th century and the earlier history of the African-American experience.
The annual observance of King Day is for many a day of action as a result of the King Holiday and Service Act, which was signed into law in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. Or as the rallying cry goes, “Make it a day on, not a day off!” Cities and towns across the country celebrate a day of service that offers Americans the opportunity to engage in such volunteer activities as tutoring, participating in food drives and providing home repair to the elderly. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Web site provides information on service projects across the country dedicated to King’s ideals, including those sponsored locally by Hands on Greater Buffalo.
Whether you spend the holiday “on” or “off,” you might want to take a few minutes to listen to King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech or perhaps to his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” delivered in Memphis the day before he was murdered.
—Gemma DeVinney, University Libraries