After the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968, U.S. Representative John Conyers (a Democrat from Michigan) and U.S. Senator Edward Brooke (a Republican from Massachusetts) introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday. Through this show of bipartisanship, the bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. However, it was not signed into law until 1983 by President Ronald Regan, who initially opposed the establishment of a federal holiday in King's honor. The holiday took effect three years later in 1986.
Then, as now, there was backlash against recognizing a man who was both powerful and Black. Many states objected to adopting the holiday, and it wasn't until 1999 that New Hampshire became the last state to name a holiday after King, which they first celebrated along with all other states in January 2000. Cost was expressed as the reason for objecting to the holiday, but some went further with arguments that sadly sound familiar.
"Senators Jesse Helms and John Porter East (both North Carolina Republicans) led the opposition to the holiday and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Helms criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism." Helms led a filibuster against the bill and, on October 3, 1983, submitted a 300-page document to the Senate alleging that King had associations with communists. Democratic New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared the document a "packet of filth," threw it on the Senate floor and stomped on it."
A powerful voice in efforts to create the holiday was musician Stevie Wonder. Using his art, talent, and presence on the national stage, Wonder released the song "Happy Birthday" on his 1980 album Hotter than July. Wonder worked tirelessly to support Coretta Scott King in raising awareness and building momentum for the holiday through his tour and rallies. Today, Martin Luther King, Jr., is the only day of national service in the United States.
Wonder is one of many artists who have invested their hearts and talents into bettering the lives of people in their communities and around the world. On Monday, artists and others will be thinking about the river of changes and challenges that will also be launched that day with the inauguration of Donald Trump, Jr. as president of the United States. At the same time, we will be mindful of the artists and their communities who have become the victims of natural and manmade disasters in North Carolina, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, who have lost their homes, livelihoods, history, and life's work. Now is a time for all of us to reflect and to be of service.
The time is overdue
For people like me and you
Who know the way to truth
Is love and unity to all God's children
It should be a great event
And the whole day should be spent
In full remembrance
Of those who lived and died for the oneness of all people
-Stevie Wonder, "Happy Birthday"
My best,
Jeannie
