Monday, Jan. 20, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Michigan Technological University’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion is hosting many events this week in honor of the fallen civil rights leader.
Many people today don’t know the fascinating history behind the holiday. In November of 1979, a bill to create a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King was defeated by five votes in the US House of Representatives. This caused King’s wife, Coretta, to circulate a second petition to collect even more signatures than the one that led to the proposal that Congress voted down.
Musician Stevie Wonder joined her fight. Wonder’s song, Happy Birthday, became an anthem for their cause. Mrs. King and Wonder brought a petition to Congress with six million signatures. A bill making MLK Day a holiday then passed the House by a vote of 338 to 90. After another struggle, the bill also passed the Senate, and President Ronald Reagan signed the MLK holiday bill into law on Nov. 2, 1983. The first official celebration occurred on the third Monday of January 1986.
Activities you might want to cover at Michigan Tech include:
Monday, Jan. 20, a Day of Service Project. Students and staff volunteer will read about King’s life and work to students at Houghton Elementary and Barkell Elementary in Hancock.
Monday, Jan. 20, the 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Banquet, 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Max Seel, Michigan Tech provost and vice president of academic affairs, will give the keynote address, and the along with a performance by Momentum Jazz Trio will play. Tickets for the banquet are free and available at the Center for Diversity and Inclusion while they last.
Tuesday, Jan. 21, Michigan Tech and Finlandia University faculty, staff and students will host a public discussion about social justice and equality titled “Where have we been? Where are we going?” The program will be in the Great Lakes Research Center Room 201.
Wednesday, Jan. 22, there will be a viewing of King: A Filmed Record. The documentary follows King from 1955 to 1968. It will be shown in Fisher Hall 135 at 7 p.m. The film is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Kellie Raffaelli at Michigan Tech’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion, 906-487-2920.
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