What is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day honours Dr Martin Luther King Jr., the Baptist minister who became the most prominent leader of the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. King advocated nonviolent resistance to segregation and discrimination, led the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and 1956, and delivered the I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington in August 1963. His Letter from Birmingham Jail of 1963 remains widely read. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was assassinated on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
The holiday is marked with parades, speeches, church services and community service. Many Americans treat it as a day on, not a day off: the King Holiday and Service Act, signed in 1994, made it a national day of service, and AmeriCorps coordinates volunteer projects across the country. Schools and libraries hold readings, and many cities hold marches and memorial services. The day is also used for reflection on the unfinished work of the civil rights movement.
Why it is observed
King was born on 15 January 1929. A bill to make his birthday a holiday was introduced in Congress within days of his death in 1968 by Representative John Conyers, and the campaign gathered momentum over the following years, helped by a petition with some six million signatures and by Stevie Wonder's song Happy Birthday of 1980. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law on 2 November 1983, and it was first observed on 20 January 1986. Some states were slow to adopt it: only in 2000 did every state mark the day, with South Carolina, the last state to make it a paid holiday for all state employees, signing its bill that May.
How the date is set
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the third Monday of January, which means it falls between 15 and 21 January, close to King's birthday on 15 January.
How it is observed
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday, so federal offices, the stock markets, banks, post offices and many schools are closed on the Monday. Many private employers close too, though it is not a legal requirement for them, and many retailers stay open. Public transport usually runs a holiday timetable. The long weekend is also a popular time for winter travel. Pay and time off depend on the employer, the state and the contract. Some museums offer free admission on the day.
Sources
United States