HoehmTown Happenings

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Monday, January 20, 2025 will mark the 39th time our nation will formally observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a national holiday. As we all know, Dr. King was a Baptist minister whose efforts created monumental changes to our nation through the Civil Rights movement.ย  Sadly, Dr. Kingโ€™s work was cut shortย  when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.ย 

Dr. Kingโ€™s impact on our country was so profound that it only took four days following his death for legislation to be introduced seeking to create a federal holiday in his honor. Yet, despite all the good Dr. King had achieved, he was still a polarizing figure in a nation where racial divisions ran deep. The 1968 legislation would not even make it far enough for a vote. And while it might seem unthinkable today, it would take another 15 years forย  that vote to take place.ย 

In 1983, the United States Congress passed legislation designating the 3rd Monday of every January a national holiday in honor of Dr. King. The bill was signed by President Ronald Reagan that same year, and the very first national observance of the holiday took place three years later in 1986.ย 

I could dedicate an entire column and more to the struggles in establishing this observance, but for this column I am focusing on honoring the legacy of Dr. King.

I once heard it said that we have two things for which we are not responsible: the day we are born and the day we die. Our gravestones will be marked with a dash between those two dates, indicating the time we spent living. While we arenโ€™t responsible for the days we were granted to enter into and exit from this world, we are responsible for how we spent our time in between. Dr. King forged remarkable accomplishments within his โ€˜dash,โ€™ for which the world is forever grateful. Martin Luther King Jr. is a true hero. He was somebody who was called to the ministry to teach, preach, and lead a congregation. By all accounts he was an exceptional minister who touched many lives, and that alone would have made him an exceptional man.ย 

However, Dr. King answered to an even higher calling far beyond the wonderful things he was able to achieve through his ministry. Those greater things centered on revolutionary social justice work of the highest order that led to the end of segregation in our country.ย 

As we look back today, it is hard to understand that there was once such stiff opposition to making Dr. Kingโ€™s birthday a national holiday.ย  In fact it is likely a sign of how far we have come in this country that the legacy of Dr. King is now forever rooted in our memories and history. It is not just the determined cadence of his voice as he delivered his iconic, โ€œI Have a Dreamโ€ speech that lives on, but the fruits of his labor that resulted in the equality that we take for granted today. Many of the words spoken by Dr. King have become emblematic of an all-inclusive society. Dr. King did indeed change the world.ย 

Fittingly, in 1994, MLK Day was officially declared as the only national holiday designated as a national day of service. So while you may have the day off from work, you are encouraged to make it a day โ€˜onโ€™ by doing volunteer work of some kind to benefit our community. From food pantries to veterans organizations to groups that work with the disabled, Clarkstown is home to a wide variety of charitable organizations where you can give back. In addition to my usual volunteer work, I will be attending several ceremonies marking the day with pride on just how far our country has come thanks to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many others he inspired.

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