Remembering a Civil Rights Leader: Martin Luther King Day

By Ron Kremer

Americans will pause on Monday to remember slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Accordingly, I thought it would be appropriate to supply some information behind the federal holiday, courtesy of FactMonster.com.

Did you know it took 15 years to create the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday? Congressman John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King was assassinated in 1968.

And did you know Illinois was the first state to adopt MLK Day as a state holiday in 1973?

If you’re like me, you like to remember King by hearing his voice and listening to his words of wisdom. So, I’m sharing these three famous King quotes compiled by Erin Teare:

“If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, ‘There lived a great people—a black people—who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.' ” — From an address he gave in Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 31, 1955

“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” — From “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ " — From the “I Have a Dream” speech, Aug, 28, 1963

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