“Mules humbly pulled the funeral caisson of one of our country greatest citizens, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. “Judge a man by his character and not by the color of his skin!” Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. On October 14, 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance.
King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971; the holiday was enacted at the federal level by legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also rededicated for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011. LET US SOLEMNLY REMEMBER HIS GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS ON THIS VERY SPECIAL DAY!