Short biography of martin luther

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. is set to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon. But in Alabama and Mississippi, Monday is also Robert E. Lee Day in honor of the Confederate general.

The two states recognize King and Lee on the third Monday in January.

Their state governments created holidays more than a century ago to honor Lee and later combined the day with the federal holiday established in the s to honor King.

The strange juxtaposition of honoring men from vastly different legacies has persisted for decades.

How it happened

Both men have January birthdays.

Lee was born Jan. 19, King was born Jan. 15,

In the years after the Civil War, white politicians in southern states created multiple holidays to honor Confederate leaders and dead Confederate soldiers. Alabama lawmakers in named a January state holiday for Lee. Mississippi did the same in

President Ronald Reagan in signed legislation naming the third Monday of January as Martin Luther King Jr.

Day to honor the slain civil rights leader.

Biography of john knox Martin Luther King Jr. King advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination. A black church leader, King participated in and led marches for the right to vote , desegregation , labor rights , and other civil rights. King was one of the leaders of the March on Washington , where he delivered his " I Have a Dream " speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial , and helped organize two of the three Selma to Montgomery marches during the Selma voting rights movement. There were several dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities, who often responded violently.

States slowly added the day to their roster of state holidays. Alabama and Mississippi in the s adopted Martin Luther King Day as a state holiday, adding it to their existing day honoring Lee.

Some other southern states at one time also had a joint holiday, but have ended that practice, leaving only Alabama and Mississippi with a single day honoring both King and Lee.

Efforts to separate

Black lawmakers in Alabama and Mississippi have made multiple attempts in recent years to separate the holidays.

But they have so far been unsuccessful.

Rep. Kenyatté Hassell said he wants to try again in Alabama in the legislative session begining next month.

Murdo mitchell biography of martin luther king We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Day, the national holiday has never coincided with the inauguration of a non-incumbent president. That changes this year. Martin Luther King Jr. In , the holiday falls on January 20, the same day typically set aside for Inauguration Day every four years.

It is disrespectful to King’s memory and the struggle of the civil rights movement to celebrate him alongside a Confederate general, Hassell, said Hassell, a Democrat from Montgomery.

“There are fundamental difference between General Lee and Dr. King. The Confederate general, he fought the preserve slavery and uphold the whole institution of white supremacy.

Dr. King was a civil rights leader who fought for equality and justice for all people,” Hassell said.

The holiday celebrating Lee and King together comes in states where Black residents account for more than a quarter of the population. Black citizens make up 36% of the population in Mississippi and 27% in Alabama.

King first rose to prominence in the s as the leader of the boycott against the segregated bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.

Hassell in introduced legislation, co-sponsored with more than a dozen other lawmakers, that would remove the reference to Lee on the January holiday.

Murdo mitchell biography of martin luther king day 2025 Any number of historic moments in the civil-rights struggle have been used to identify Martin Luther King, Jr. But in retrospect, single events are less important than the fact that King, and his policy of nonviolent protest, was the dominant force in the civil-rights movement during its decade of greatest achievement, from to He was renamed "Martin" when he was about 6 years old. After going to local grammar and high schools, King enrolled in Morehouse College in Atlanta in He wasn't planning to enter the ministry, but then he met Dr.

Another bill would have moved the Lee holiday to Columbus Day in October, which coincides with the month of his death. Neither bill made it to a floor vote.

In Mississippi, Rep. Kabir Karriem, a Democrat from Columbus, introduced legislation this session that would remove the recognition of Lee from the holiday. The bill states the purpose is to “reflect the transformative power of Mississippi from its past to its present by celebrating holidays that wholly reflect the remarkable strides made by all citizens.”

Fewer Confederate holidays across South

Many states in the South have opted to abolish or rename Confederate-related holidays.

Louisiana in struck Robert E.

Lee Day and Confederate Memorial Day from the list of official state holidays.

Virginia in scrapped a holiday honoring Lee and Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, both natives of the state, to make Election Day a state holiday.

Georgia in changed Confederate Memorial Day to the neutrally titled “State Holiday.” Arkansas in ended the state’s practice of commemorating Lee on the same day as King, leaving only Alabama and Mississippi remaining.

Alabama and Mississippi have three Confederate-related state holidays.

Both states mark Confederate Memorial Day in April and mark the birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. South Carolina marks Confederate Memorial Day in May.

Other states have Confederate-related holidays on the books, but they are not full holidays when state offices close.