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Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered with a national holiday.

By Jennifer James
January 18, 2009

Civil Rights Leader: A national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated Monday, January 19. The minister opposed segregation and won the Nobel Prize.

source: Los Angeles Times

訂定全國紀念日以緬懷馬丁.路德.金恩


On Jan. 15, 1929, a baby boy was born in Atlanta to a Baptist minister and his wife. He was named Michael. Later on, the father would change the boy's name to Martin, in honor of Martin Luther, a minister and reformer who had lived in Germany in the 1500s.

The boy admired his father and grandfather, who both were ministers. So when he was old enough, he attended the same college as his father and his grandfather: Morehouse College. Afterward, he graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary and became a Baptist minister himself. He was African American.


Back then, in many states, African Americans were kept away from the white community. This was called segregation. Martin knew all about this because, as a child, he had attended segregated public schools in Georgia.

Segregation was especially bad in the Southern states like Alabama where they had "whites only" water fountains and "whites only" sections of public buses. Many other states had segregated schools, restaurants and neighborhoods.


Martin knew segregation was wrong and decided that when he grew up, he would do something about it. And he did.

He led many nonviolent protests and gave speeches. In 1955, he and his followers refused to ride the buses in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the "whites only" rule. This is called a boycott.


They boycotted the buses for 382 days. In 1956, the Supreme Court took away segregation laws separating the races in public places, calling them unconstitutional. Blacks and whites rode the buses as equals.

His most famous protest happened in 1963. He led a peaceful march on Washington, D.C., involving 250,000 people. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.


The following is part of that speech:

"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.'

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . . .

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. . . .


"I have a dream today. . . .

"This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'

"And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. . . ."


His name was Martin Luther King Jr. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and was one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. He is honored with a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January. This year, it is celebrated Monday, Jan. 19.

Recommended reading: "Martin's Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr." by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier.