"peo ples" © 1997 Zoe Levenglick-Volpe (age 11) The Holiday

"Free at last, free at last Thank God Almighty, we are free at last" Each year on the third Monday of January schools, federal offices, post office and banks across America close as we celebrate the newest American national holiday 15 years after Dr. King's death President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law making the third Monday of January a national holiday celebrating the birth and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr But it was a tough time getting the bill passed Story continues below - Advertisement - Story continues below First a bill had to be introduced by a member of the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House assigned the bill to a committee where the bill was discussed in detail. Meetings were held where supporters and opposers could discuss their positions. The committee then agreed that bill should be sent to a vote. The Rules Committee scheduled a debate on the issue. The House of Representatives then voted on the bill. It passed the House with a vote of 338 to 90. Then it was sent to the Senate Again the issue of the King holiday had to pass through committees and public hearings before a final vote was taken There were many who opposed the idea of holiday for Dr. King. America had only honored two individuals with national holidays - George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Many felt that there were other Americans that deserved a national holiday, such as Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy One barrier to the confirmation was the Senator from Georgia who had denounced Dr. King as a communist Others feared the King holiday was meant as a way to make up to African-Americans for slavery. Other feared the cost of the holiday, with the extra overtime paid to federal workers who had to work on the holiday as well as millions to those federal employees who were paid for the day Senator Bob Dole pointed out to those critics '"I suggest they hurry back to their pocket calculators and estimate the cost of 300 years of slavery, followed by a century or more of economic, political and social exclusion and discrimination" It took many years for Congress to decide to celebrate the holiday. In the years leading up to the official decree many African-Americans celebrated the birthday themselves with a few states declaring King's birthday a state holiday. The bill was finally passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and was signed into law on November 2, 1983 The first national celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday took place January 20, 1986. This year the King holiday will be celebrated on Monday January 21, 2008. The theme of this years holiday is Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off!! Like this article? Link to this article Just copy and paste the code below to add this link to your page. <a href="http://holidays.net/mlk">Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the Net</a> - <a href="http://holidays.net/mlk/holiday.htm">The Holiday</a> Share with friend Your Email Your Name Your Friends Email Your Friends Name Your Message   Sign up for Free Holiday Email Newsletters and Text Messages Email Address: We'll keep you informed of future Holidays on the Net Celebrations Add Comment   Name: E-Mail: Message:   Comments sarah 05:06 10/08/2008   Am a Kenyan and reading through ths has really helped me to focus on the social injustices to the local kenyan mwananchi, and yes, we too as a country do need to realise a dream of when the rich and the poor margin shall be no more. Barbara 13:33 08/18/2008   All about this subject is so interesting! Grace 18:45 05/13/2008   This is very helpful!! sunny 12:40 04/29/2008   i am doing a research on him and i think that it is very interesting kevin 11:19 04/29/2008   This is great information. Thank you so much. If you're interested in discussing politics, feel free to check out my political forum. redge 11:34 04/25/2008   This is great information. Thank you so much. If you're interested in discussing politics, feel free to check out my political forum. isaacgbogodo 10:03 04/08/2008   This is so cool gee adonoo 16:40 04/04/2008   I am a ghanaian, a technology teacher at a school in colchester. A day like MLK days gives both black and white hope. Thanks to those who fought to make it possible. Djanea Christian 12:18 04/04/2008   Thanks. Thanks for this.

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