It was noon on January 15, 1929 when Michael Luther King Jr. (he was renamed Martin when he was five in honor of the Protestant reformer) made his grand entrance into the world at the family home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia.
The future Dr. King’s parents were living with their in-laws, Reverend Adam and Jennie Williams. Reverend Williams was pastoring Ebenezer Baptist Church, a congregation Dr. King would co-pastor years later.
This year, the Dr. King holiday will be overshadowed by the final hours of President Biden’s term and the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. A normally quiet MLK Day in Washington, D.C. will be filled with plenty of bustle, though outdoor festivities have now been moved indoors because of frigid weather forecast for Monday.
It took until 1986 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to be recognized federally, legislation signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. Proposed and debated for years, Stevie Wonder even wrote a song (“Happy Birthday”) to advocate for its designation.
From its beginning, MLK Day has been celebrated on the third Monday in January. This is thanks to the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968,” legislation signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The push for Monday holidays was controversial but rooted in European tradition.
Believe it or not, prior to 1830, the Bank of England shut down for nearly 40 holidays a year – a mixture of saints’ days and various historic anniversaries. Due to either exhaustion, confusion or frustration – and maybe all three – Britain began reducing that number throughout the 1800s. The Bank Holidays Act of 1871 reduced it further and established the remaining special days be celebrated on Mondays.
Those who advocated here in the U.S. for Monday holidays as opposed to whenever they fall on the calendar, unapologetically defended their position by championing the idea of more three-day weekends. In addition to the federal workers cheering, the travel industry loved the idea as more people hit the road for adventure.
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were the first casualties. Washington’s Birthday (Feb. 22nd) was moved to the first Monday in February and renamed “Presidents’ Day.” Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Feb. 12th) was folded into the celebration. It’s now morphed into a day to honor all 45 men who have occupied the Oval Office.
New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day and Christmas Day are now the only four holidays we celebrate on whatever day they fall. Purists will argue the founders actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, and we don’t know when Jesus of Nazareth was actually born. But it’s still fun to discover each year what day of the week these days fall. It seems a little more special to celebrate anything in the middle of a work week.
Monday holidays may make for a more efficient and even profitable economy, but do they also detract from the main purpose of the designation itself? Sincerity, not a more sophisticated society, should be our goal. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act may bolster spending, but it diminishes the day by shifting the focus away from the leader and special occasion to a useful excuse for leisure.
It’s likely Dr. King will be mentioned at some point during the Inauguration. It was President Trump who in 2018 said, “Dr. King opened the eyes and lifted the conscience of our nation. He stirred the hearts of our people to recognize the dignity written in every human soul.”
President-elect Trump was just 21 years-old when Dr. King was assassinated. The two men never met, but Dr. King once gave a speech that our 45th and soon-to-be 47th president would have loved.
“Our slogan must not be ‘Burn, baby, burn,’ it must be ‘Build, baby, build,’” Dr. King warned those gathered inside Philadelphia’s Barrett Junior High School in 1967. “Organize, baby, organize. Yes, our slogan must be ‘Learn, baby, learn’ so that we can earn, baby, earn.’”
Image credit: Wikipedia and Donald J. Trump
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