This year on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, January 16, numerous organizations nationwide are viewing this commemorative day as a day on, not off.  The purpose is to unify America through social service just as Dr. King envisioned.  Opportunities to serve include, but aren’t limited to: park and school beautification, job fairs for economic opportunity, serving meals, youth mentoring, and support of military families and veterans.  Also be sure to check your local paper or online news source for parades, concerts, educational programs, and artistic displays in support of Dr. King’s life and visions for equality and social justice.  Use this link to find a project near you.

Below are a few biographical facts about Dr. King’s life and legacy:

• 1957-At age 28 he helps found Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• 1963-At age 34 he made the “I Have a Dream” speech at the historic March on Washington for jobs and freedom, attended by 200,000 protestors
• 1963-At age 34 Time magazine named Dr. King as “Person of the Year”
• 1964-At age 35 King won the Nobel Peace Prize and Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in education and employment
• 1968-At age Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4^that a Memphis sanitation men’s strike while standing outside with Jesse Jackson & Ralph Abernathy
  • King was survived by his widow Coretta Scott King, who would go on to start the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social change
• 1986-The first Federal Martin Luther King holiday was celebrated
• 2006-Coretta Scott King makes the last speech of her life on January 14^th during MLK Jr. celebrations and passes away on January 31^st