Honoring Dr. King
1/11/2019, 6 a.m.
On Monday, Jan. 21, the nation will engage in a variety of activities saluting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a great American and world humanitarian.
The King Holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year. Had he lived, Dr. King would be 90 on his birthday, Jan. 15.
The bill making Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and was first observed in 1986.
Some states, including Virginia, resisted observing the holiday — giving it alternative names or combining it with another holiday. It finally was observed in all 50 states in 2000.
The Act of Congress designating the holiday states, “… such holiday should serve as a time for Americans to reflect on the principles of racial equality and non-violence social changes espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Today, we are challenged to seize the moment to make the national holiday activities contribute to strategic action, breathing new vitality and energy into the work for empowering and community building.
It is time to live the dream and not talk it.
REV. TYLER C. MILLNER SR.
Axton
The writer is pastor of Morning Star Holy Church in Martinsville and founder of Community Learning Week in Richmond honoring Dr. King, now known as Living the Dream Inc.
