Happy Martin Luther King jr Day!
Who originated the idea of a national holiday in honor of MLK?
The Honorable John Conyers to the left. Martin Luther King Jr to the right.
It all started when…
It took 15 years to create the federal Martin Luther King Jr., holiday. Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King was assassinated in 1968. After the bill became stalled, petitions endorsing the holiday containing six million names were submitted to Congress.
Conyers and Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Democrat of New York, resubmitted King holiday legislation each subsequent legislative session. Public pressure for the holiday mounted during the 1982 and 1983 civil rights marches in Washington.
Congress passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. A compromise moving the holiday from Jan. 15, King's birthday, which was considered too close to Christmas and New Year's, to the third Monday in January helped overcome opposition to the law.
The Honorable John Conyers at the 2019 African American Leadership Awards. He was the recipient of The Leadership and Legacy Award.