What MLK can teach us about how to fight for peace today and why a Senator from NC said he was a communist

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday was finally approved as a federal holiday in 1983, but not without a fight.

Martin Luther King, Jr. photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, 1964. Source: Library of Congress

The fight to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a federal holiday took years and much campaigning. King’s birthday was finally approved as a federal holiday in 1983, and all 50 states made it a state government holiday by 2000. King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta. His birthday is celebrated every year on the third Monday in January, according to the National Constitution Center.

President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to create a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Rose Garden of the White House on November 2, 1983. (National Archives)

When local journalism isn’t supported, issues go unreported, sometimes for years. Last year, WRAL shared a never-before-seen video showing Dr. King speaking at NC State University as the KKK protested. A local newspaper assigned no one to cover King’s speech that day, NCSU Professor Jason Miller said.