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PICTURE OF THE WEEK: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

On Monday January 21st, the United States will celebrate it's newest holiday: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. America first celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1984, and since then it has taken place every year on the third Monday in January.

In 1983, 15 years after Dr. King's death, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that made the third Monday of January a national holiday to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. However, it was very difficult for Reagan to get the bill passed through Congress and made into a law. Some people believed that by making a new holiday, too many people would get the day off from work and school, which would make the United States lose money. Others thought that making a holiday to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very small way for the United States to apologize for putting Africans into slavery, and horribly mistreating African-Americans for so many years. But, finally on November 2, 1983, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was made an official national holiday. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement worked to try to get blacks equal treatment in the United States. Since the time of America's founding, blacks were always treated unequally. Even when slavery ended after the Civil War, African-Americans were not treated the same as whites. For example, African-Americans were not allowed to go to the same schools as whites, live in the same areas, or even use the same bathrooms. African-Americans were really not even able to vote until 1964. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to change the treatment of African-Americans in the United States through non-violence. This means that he would have protests, marches, speeches, and demonstrations, but they were always peaceful. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. remained the leader of the civil rights movement until he was killed on April 4 1968.

--Written by Angela Schutte

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