Martin Luther King Day is celebrated on the third Monday of January in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy as a fighter for racial justice and equality. King fought racism in many ways including the many freedom marches he participated in, donating to charities and his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. To this day, we celebrate Martin Luther King Day because of the work he did for people of all races.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA. Ever since he was a little kid, he always looked up to his father who was a church pastor. He was inspired by how his father fought racism and forgave the people caught up in it. 

After he attended college, he started his new life with his wife, Coretta Scott King. In December 1945, King started his career as a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. While being a pastor, he made many changes to the church to create unity. That’s when, in 1955, he started his leadership of modern Civil Rights for all African Americans. 

King started to protest against racism and discrimination. He explained how it was unfair to judge people by looks instead of by their actions, which led to his Nobel Prize on October 14, 1964, for his leadership of the Civil Rights movement. After receiving the Nobel Prize, he also got a monetary prize of $54,000 which he gave half to the Gandhi Society for Human Rights and the rest to the Congress of Racial Equality.

After King started his movement against racism and discrimination, most African Americans achieved more progress toward racial equality and started to get better treatment from others. On August 28, 1963, King gave his famous speech “I Have a Dream” speech, which talked about how everyone has equal rights, no matter what their skin color was. He also emphasized how he felt about racial equality and everyone’s freedom.

On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated as he was standing on the balcony of his motel in Memphis by his organizer and friend, Reverend James Lawson. Many people were sad by this tragic news and believed that King’s dream would die along with him. 

Eventually, many African Americans believed in themselves. King may have left many people, but he will always be remembered and always be in everyone’s vision as a legend. King’s biggest impact on people was bringing awareness to racial discrimination in America.