“People Who Gave Their Life for Freedom”
Martin Luther King Jr.
American Baptist Minister and Activist
We love Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for freedom from race for us all. How important it is what he and his team did, helping the world. Helping the world have greater justice. Treating people equally. Loving equally. Being fair, kind and equitable to all in every move, every step we make. That is what Martin Luther King Day is all about!
Martin Luther King had to be a strong leader to combat racial injustice. He had to be firm. At the same time, he focuses on Love. Love is the most important, defining characteristic. How we should love! No matter what people did to him, he loved back. We should love back in all that we do.
Martin Luther King was the leader for nonviolent activism in civil rights. He went up against extreme racial discrimination, protest by protest. He and his followers were kicked out of restaurants and jailed, forced to leave buses if they didn’t “sit” in the right place, endured high-velocity water hosings, were beaten and killed. He had to take a stand for federal rights, state rights and individual rights. Taking a stand for freedom was a fight on so many fronts.
And then there was the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.
It was tragic. He had just given a speech on freedom and was then killed. A groundswell of support for civil rights and his celebration culminated in a holiday. People lobbied for this important holiday in 1968. It was finally passed in 1983 but was not fully realized in all 50 states until 2000. Sometimes states used different names or general civil rights celebrations: It took more than a quarter-century to get Martin Luther King Day recognized. So the fight for rights of all races, all colors took time.
Now, we can do all we can to live in a world where all colors are celebrated, equal and loved. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is now a federal holiday in the United States.
As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day together as the UniversalGiving® Family, I hope we can all live in harmony, justice, peace, equity and love. I hope you will join me, and a joyous Martin Luther King Day to all!
With Love For All People,
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the son of early civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Sr..
King participated in and led marches for blacks’ right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other basic civil rights. King led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). As president of the SCLC, he led the unsuccessful Albany Movement in Albany, Georgia, and helped organise some of the nonviolent 1963 protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King helped organise the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Bio Source: Wikipedia; Image: Fig 1. Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran on Unsplash, Fig 2. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash, Fig 3. Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels
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