17th of January 2022|| Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Hello everyone, how are you all doing?
Yeah, I am here again to tell us of another great day that is being celebrated all over the world, especially in the United States. As a matter of fact, it is a national holiday. Yesterday, I spoke to you all about World Religion Day that was meant to unify the people of the world regardless of their religious leanings. And today’s holiday has an even stronger message.
And on this day, the seventeenth of January 2022, we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Although, it is more popularly known as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Usually, the date is not fixed. It happens on the third Monday of every January, and this year’s own just happened to fall on the seventeenth. Usually, the date over the years has fallen within the range of fifteenth to the twenty-first.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the chief spokesperson for the Civil Rights Movements in their nonviolent protests against racism in the federal and state laws. It is because of him that the ugliness of racism is not so rampant anymore.
Campaigns for assigning a holiday to him began soon after he was assassinated in the year 1968. His wife, Coretta Scott King was the champion of this movement. It was not an easy battle but eventually, in the year 1983, President Ronald Reagan finally signed the holiday into the law of the United States.
Martin Luther King Jr. at Washington DC
The struggle did not stop there though, for the first two years, it was not observed. Not until the third year that some states observed it. Many states resisted having to observe the holiday, or if they did they did it under another name or combined it with other holidays. It was not until the year 2000 that all fifty states officially observed the holiday. And there has been no going back ever since.
As a black man, I cannot overemphasize the importance of a day like this not just to me but to people of color all over the world. King’s selfless actions changed the world and made it so that everyone can live in peace and equality. There did not have to be racial barriers or enmity. We all can just live together happily and without trouble. The world is big enough to contain us all.
When he was taken from us untimely, he left a legacy that can never be broken. His name will forever be written in the sands of time, never to be erased because what he did touched millions of lives, and generations to come will still benefit from it.
So, on a day like this, we should do well to remember the sacrifices our forefathers had made just so the world can be more livable for everyone. We should recall the sweat, the pain they had to go through, and we should never engage in racism. It doesn’t help anyone or anything. All it does is spread fear and hate all over the place.
And that is bad for any country in any part of the world.
On this day, look at your brothers from different races and look at them with love, because they are all humans like you.
Thank you very much for reading; I hope I passed across a message.
See you in the next post.