The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
Today, Monday, January 18, 2016, is the observance honoring the birthdate of the late Rev. Dr. M. L. King, Jr., the slain civil rights leader. It is the only United States holiday commemorating an African-American. Dr. King's actual birthday is January 15, 1929, but Federal law mandates the celebration of most holidays on a Monday closest to the original date being celebrated. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. In 1977, he was posthumously awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom by the (then) U. S. President, Jimmy Carter.
During his lifetime, Dr. King was noted for his advocacy of civil rights, his commitment to non-violence and pacifism (especially for his vocal opposition to the Vietnam War) and his championing equal rights for people everywhere but particularly in the United States of America.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the undisputed leader of the movement to secure complete racial equality for oppressed peoples within the USA. He was one of the founders and guiding forces of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He served for many years as the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
Although Dr. King was killed before the modern GLBT equality movement was begun (he was shot dead in April, 1968; the Stonewall Riots happened in June, 1969), he is recognized as a definitive inspiration by the GLBT community. After his death, his widow, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, stated that she had no doubt in her mind of his support of the GLBT community in their struggle for equality.
In the 1968 March on Washington, where Dr. King delivered his infamous and moving "I Have A Dream" speech, he never wavered in his support of Bayard Ruskin, one of the principal organizers of the event. Many of the other event organizers and some of Dr. King's own advisors had urged him to fire Ruskin after it was discovered that he was homosexual. Dr. King refused to do so and even had Ruskin appear onstage with him before the more than 100, 000 people congregated on the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Peace! Get naked. Enjoy!
Bare With Pride
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