Martin Luther King Day马丁·路德·金纪念日

"Darkness cannot drive our darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive our hate, only love can do that."

Each year on the third Monday of January schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life and the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr. King fought. A time to remember his fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all races and peoples. A time to remember the message of change through nonviolence.

It is the first new holiday since 1948, when Memorial Day was created as a "prayer for peace" day.
King is the only American besides George Washington to have a national holiday designated for his birthday (those of Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee and others have been celebrated in some states but not nationwide).

When President Reagan signed legislation creating the holiday in November 1983, it marked the end of a persistent, highly organized lobbying effort spanning （跨越）the nation for 15 years.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. His father was the minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, as was his father before him.

President Reagan and the Signing Ceremony for Martin Luther King Holiday Legislation, November 2, 1983

M.L.'s mother and father taught their children what would become an important part of M.L.'s life - to treat all people with respect. But as M.L. grew up he found that not everyone followed his parents' principles. M.L.'s friend would go to a school for white children only and M.L. was sent to a school for "black" children. After the first day of school M.L. and his friend were never allowed to play together again

When M.L. was ready for college he decided to follow his father and become a minister. In 1954 M.L. received his PhD. and accepted the job of pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.Martin Luther King, Jr. would now be addressed as "Dr. King".

Dr. King's involvement with the civil rights movement began with the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks on December 1st, 1955. Mrs. Parks, An African-American seamstress on her way home from work, was arrested for not giving a white bus rider her seat.

After a series of civil rights protests and arrests, Dr. King had become the undisputed leader of the civil rights movement.

Continuing the fight for civil rights after his release in 1963, and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, on August 28, 200,000 people gathered in the front to the Lincoln Memorial. It was a peaceful protest, made up of African-Americans and whites, young and old. Most had come to hear Dr. King deliver his famous "I have a dream" speech.

1964 would be a good year for Dr. King and the civil rights movement. Dr. King was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as someone who "had contributed the most to the furtherance of peace among men." Dr. King would divide the prize money, $54,000, among various civil rights organizations.

Dr. King believed that poverty caused much of the unrest （动荡）in America. Not only poverty for African-Americans, but poor whites, Hispanics and Asians. Dr. King believed that the United States involvement in Vietnam was also a factor and that the war poisoned the atmosphere of the whole country and made the solution of local problems of human relations unrealistic.

Dr. King continued his campaign for world peace. He traveled across America to support and speak out about civil rights and the rights of the underprivileged.

In 1968 Dr. King went to Memphis, Tennessee to help the sanitation workers who were on strike. The following day, April 4 1968, as he was leaving his motel room Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed.