Dr. Contessa Metcalfe Instagram – How the idea for MLK day began
A ‘day on, not a day off’
It’s the only federal holiday where you take a “day on, not a day off.” In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law Congressman John Lewis and Sen. Harris Wofford’s legislation making it a National Day of Service
The idea to establish a national holiday for the civil rights icon arose as the nation was plunged into grief. U.S. Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, one of the longest-serving members of Congress known for his liberal stance on civil rights, proposed legislation to recognize King four days after his assassination outside a motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.
Supporters knew it would not be easy. King, who was 39 years old at the time, was a polarizing figure to half the country even before his death, said Lerone Martin, director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Polls conducted by the Washington Post and the New York Times indicated most Americans did not trust King or thought he was too radical because of his speeches on poverty, housing and against the Vietnam War.
“People say that King is moving too fast after 1965 and basically ‘Hey, you got the Voting Rights bill done. That’s enough,’” Martin said.
The Congressional Black Caucus, founded by Conyers, tried to bring the legislation up for a vote for the next 15 years. Among the Republican rebuttals: public holidays don’t apply to private citizens, King was a communist or King was a womanizer. In the meantime, his widow, Coretta Scott King, kept lobbying for it. Musician Stevie Wonder even released a song, “Happy Birthday,” to rally support.
So, what changed?
By the 1980s, the social and cultural climate in the U.S. had shifted and the public was reflecting on racial progress, Martin said. Most Americans now were also regretting the Vietnam War. Supporters, meanwhile, were still calling for federal holiday status.
In 1983, about 20 years after King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, legislation for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday of January cleared Congress and President Ronald Reagan signed it.
@pbs #MLK #MLKDAY #DayOfService | Posted on 19/Jan/2025 05:46:09
