Martin Luther King, Jr.

Well, we've made it to January 19 already. Another holiday season has come and gone. And now we find ourselves preparing for a new president to be inaugurated into office. In the midst of the preparation for this event tomorrow, may we not forget the importance of today. Today is the celebrated observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which could easily be lost in the chaos of tomorrow's events, but there are also a lot of tie-ins to link these events together as well.
I think it is important that we remember the events of this day as they are key events in the history of the United States, but also it was a great progression in the civil rights movement of the United States. In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. led a march in Washington ending the march with his famous speech, "I Have A Dream," which transpired on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. What is the significance of the speech being given in this location? Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the memorial of the President who had desperately tried to end slavery a century before. His speech was almost a continuing thought of what Lincoln had tried to establish in 1861 with the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln never really got to see the full effect of his proclamation due to his assassination, but it was one of the baby steps in giving liberty to all citizens. But back to Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. won a Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent efforts to end racial segregation and discrimination. He was the youngest man to have won this in the history of the award, and also established himself as one of the greatest orators in this nation's history. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a contributor to peacefully finding a solution to the issues surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He worked so hard on this issue that his house was bombed as a result of his efforts. After his assassination in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, King was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor.
As a nation we have come a long ways from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1865. As a nation, we have now elected a black president. And although I don't and many do not agree with everything he stands for, we should celebrate the fact that the U.S. has come this far in the civil rights movement since 1968-only 41 years ago. Although it seems like we will always have some racial discrimination against different people groups, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream to end racial discrimination is getting closer to becoming a reality.