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{{Short description|U.S. holiday, 3rd Monday of January}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox holiday
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{{Martin Luther King Jr. sidebar}}
{{African American topics sidebar}}
'''Martin Luther King Jr. Day''' (officially '''Birthday of Martin Luther King
Born in 1929, [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s actual birthday is January 15 (which in 1929 fell on a Tuesday). The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. The Monday observance is similar for those federal holidays which fall under the [[Uniform Monday Holiday Act]].
King was the chief spokesperson for [[nonviolence|nonviolent]] activism in the [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights Movement]], which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.|his assassination]] in 1968. President [[Ronald Reagan]] signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.▼
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==History==
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===Federal passage===
[[Ronald Reagan|President Ronald Reagan]] originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. When asked to comment on Helms' accusations that King was a communist, the president said "We'll know in thirty-five years, won't we
The bill also established the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission"<ref name=statute/> to oversee observance of the holiday, and [[Coretta Scott King]], King's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by [[George H. W. Bush|President George H. W. Bush]] in May 1989.<ref name="bush">{{cite web|last=Woolley |first=John T. |author2=Gerhard Peters |date=May 17, 1989 |archive-date=October 2, 2012 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17040 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002135726/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17040 |title=George Bush: Remarks on Signing the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission Extension Act |publisher=[[The American Presidency Project]] |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{USStatute|101|30|103|60|1989|05|17}}</ref>
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[[File:MLK Day March (Eugene, Oregon).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|A march in Eugene, Oregon]]
Overall, as of 2019, 45% of employers gave employees the day off.<ref name="mlky">{{cite news |title=Does Observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day Align With Your Company Values? |url=https://www.yahoo.com/video/does-observing-martin-luther-king-221124283.html |access-date=16 January 2023 |date=January 14, 2021 |work=[[Yahoo Video]] |archive-date=January 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116233455/https://www.yahoo.com/video/does-observing-martin-luther-king-221124283.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=January 2023}} The reasons for
[[File:MLK Day Horizontal Logo.png|alt=MLK Day of Service logo|frameless|right]]
===MLK Day of Service===
[[File:MLK service obama.JPG|thumb|President [[Barack Obama]] serving lunch at a Washington soup kitchen on MLK Jr. Day, 2010]]
The national "Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service"<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday | title = Volunteer opportunities and resources for organizing an MLK Day of Service event | website = Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service homepage | publisher = Corporation for National and Community Service | access-date = January 16, 2018 | archive-date = January 16, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180116152708/https://www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday | url-status = live }}</ref> was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator [[Harris Wofford]] and Atlanta Congressman [[John Lewis]], who co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act. The federal legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action [https://americorps.gov/newsroom/events/mlk-day volunteer service] in honor of King. The federal legislation was signed into law by [[Bill Clinton|President Bill Clinton]] on August 23, 1994. Since 1996, Wofford's former state office director, [[Todd Bernstein]], has been directing the annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlkdayofservice.org/|title=Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service|publisher=Global Citizen|access-date=January 16, 2007|archive-date=June 30, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630003246/http://www.mlkdayofservice.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> the largest event in the nation honoring King.<ref name="slt">{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Doug |date=January 16, 2011 |archive-date=January 20, 2011 |url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_4429b5c3-3d55-5c08-81d4-e9ac71919ebe.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120150234/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_4429b5c3-3d55-5c08-81d4-e9ac71919ebe.html |title=MLK events in Missouri form man's legacy |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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[[Category:Monday observances]]
[[Category:Coretta Scott King]]
[[Category:Birthdays by person]]
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