Across the country, schools and banks will be closed on January 20, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Junior Day is a holiday where we celebrate his life and success with the Civil Rights movement. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. 

In his early life, King was a pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where his father had also served. King’s passion for Civil Rights came from his parents. 

His father was heavily inspired by a German Protestant leader, which led him to change his and son’s names from Michael to Martin. His mother was the daughter of Atlanta’s most influential African minister. 

King got into Civil Rights while forming the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, with the goal to get African-Americans equal rights. He started off with a bus boycott. African-Americans wanted to sit wherever they chose on the buses, but at the time that was illegal; they would have to sit at the back. He led this boycott and, in the end, it was successful.

King was a very controversial man at the time. A lot of people did not want Black people to have the same rights as White people. Because of his movement, he was arrested 29 times. All of the charges were unjustified with most of them coming from Civil Disobedience. At one point he was arrested for going five miles over the speed limit.

The best way he got his point across was through his speeches. King led a peaceful movement focused on nonviolence. “I think it was the best approach, considering the situation,” said Keon Bowser. 

His most popular speech was his I Have a Dream speech. About a quarter of a million people were present to hear it, although millions have heard it since. He talked about how he wants to live in a world where everyone could live in peace and one day his children could live in harmony. Eventually the U.S. government would take action against the injustices. 

Sadly, King never got to see his dream come true. On April 4, 1968, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. He was shot at the Moraine Hotel and was immediately rushed to the hospital where he eventually succumbed to his injuries. This was a tragedy across the nation but, while he died, his Dream is still alive and people still strive to fulfill it.