Celebrate King Holiday By Serving Others

With the incredible excitement surrounding the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, some may forget the man that has made this possible, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  On Monday, January 19th, the day before Obama’s inauguration as the first African American president of the United States, we must remember the life and legacy of Dr. King for we all stand on his shoulders.  We must personally commit ourselves to live the dream.  For far too many of us, it would require us to first wake up.

AVoice Online, a project of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, urges us to celebrate the King Holiday in our communities:

Just four days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., CBC member Congressman John Conyers, Jr. introduced legislation to honor the civil rights leader through the creation of a national holiday. “I thought long and hard about what would be the most appropriate way to commemorate this extraordinary man’s life and work and decided a public holiday would be the best thing we could do,” said Rep. Conyers in a panel co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Avoice Virtual Library and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in January 2008. After submitting the King Holiday Bill every year for fifteen years, the legislation finally passed and in 1983 the third Monday in January was made a federal holiday in honor of Dr. King.

Since its establishment the King Holiday has become not just a day to memorialize an important civil rights leader, but a national day of community service to keep alive Dr. King’s teachings of social justice. The King Holiday and Service Act was co-authored by Senator Harris Wofford (D-PA) and CBC member Representative John Lewis (D-GA) and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994. The day is viewed as “a day on, not a day off.” People are encouraged to honor King’s legacy by taking their day off of work to volunteer in their communities to improve the lives of others, bridge social barriers, and help bring about the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned.

How will you spend the King Holiday?

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