Good Essay About Martin Luther King’s Day

Introduction

Martin Luther King Junior was an American humanitarian and the leader of African American civil rights movement. His name is so well-remembered because of his efforts to get African Americans equal civil rights as white people, and also for his famous speech “I Have a Dream” in which he demands for the stop of racism in America. In 1964 he was the youngest person ever to have won a Nobel Piece Prize for using non-violent methods to achieve racial equality. He was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee where he was preparing to lead a protesting march in favor of garbage workers of that city.

Theories

King was a devoted christian and also a pastor in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Alabama. All his civil rights theories were based on Bible’s “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” He also believed in “turn the other cheek” theory from the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament, and that is why his approaches were so non-violent. One of the other inspirations on him was Mahatma Gandhi. In his trip to india, he was deeply influenced by Gandhi’s peaceful and forgiving method in dealing with his enemies and opponents. King was also moved by Henry David Thoreau’s essay On Civil Disobedience, in which Thoreau demands the reader not to work for an evil system. King believed in family planning and on May 5th, 1966 gave a speech asking people to pay serious attention to the issue of overpopulation and the necessity of family planning.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated the third Monday of every January which is around his birthday, January 15th. President Ronald Reagan signed the law of this holiday in 1983 but it was not observed until three years later. The holiday was finally official as a Federal holiday in all fifty states as late as in 2000. Thus, as the holiday is fairly new, there are not considerable traditions formed out of it yet. In this holiday, Americans celebrate equal rights for all the people - wether black or white. This day is also a great opportunity to teach the younger ones about the assets of abandoning racism. Some people even volunteer in this day to work in citizen action groups.
This day is not just a holiday to be an opportunity for people to take a day off and relax. It has become a federal holiday to remind us every year of a great man who did what he could to get people civil rights that they deserved but were deprived of, due to the color of their skin. It is also a reminder that everybody can make authorities listen to what they have to say without using violent or harsh approaches, and only using wise words, similar to great authors and philosophers throughout history.

Works Cited

"The Meaning of The King Holiday." The Meaning of The King Holiday. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.
"Martin Luther King, Jr. | America's Library - Library of Congress." Martin Luther King, Jr. | America's Library - Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2015.