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An inspiring leader, bringing America to the realization of how wrong segregation really is. A role model to children, who refused to use violence as the answer. A man with a dream, a dream that one day blacks could look at whites and whites could look at blacks without seeing color, just people. A man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
When King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, nothing could prepare America for the change this man would bring. Martin Luther King Jr. was an intelligent boy who loved big words. His father was a priest who married into a wealthy family. Dr. King graduated from multiple colleges.
At first, Martin Luther King Jr. did not have his eye on getting involved with segregation. He had no reason to, no motivation. A woman named Rosa Parks would soon be changing that. Rosa Parks was a simple African-American seamstress until December 1, 1995. On this day, she refused to give her seat up to a white passenger. She had enough of the humiliation, and the bus driver had her arrested.
Martin Luther King Jr. heard of her bravery, and launched the soon to be famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. The Supreme Court decided to make segregation on buses unconstitutional a year after the boycott began. Rosa Parks became known as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, and King gained national reputation. These heroes began America’s journey through change.
King didn’t become known just for nursing the Civil Rights Movement. A big part of his reputation came from how he approached equality. Violence, he knew, was not going to solve anything. Fighting fire with fire would not work. You would have to fight fire with water in order to put it out. In other words, fighting back would not change the laws. It would not change racism. It would take the cunning, intelligence, and peacefulness that only Martin Luther King Jr. possessed.
In Washington D.C., on August 28, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place. Around 250,000 people attended the demonstration, prepared to hear and see what needed to be said and done. Some knew that it was the time for change, the time for a new era of equal rights. Coming as a shock to some, one-fourth of the spectators were white. There was heavy police attendance which, knowing King’s policy on non-violence, was of course unnecessary. The event was so big that there were musical performances by Marian Anderson, Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jackson, and even more. Many speeches were read, including, of course, King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. He brought the nation together to hear his dream of liberty, equality, freedom, and peace.
On his journey to equal rights, King was going to lead a march of sanitation workers who would protest against low wages and poor working conditions. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot on this day, April 4, 1968, on his balcony in a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Outbreaks and violence occurred, even after King had tried to stress how pointless violence is. The nation just wasn’t ready for this loss.
But King should never be forgotten. He changed our nation but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more room for change. Martin Luther King’s vision of race being a matter of deepest unimportance needs to be recognized. One day we’ll know when people are judged not by race, religion, or even looks, but by their actions and who they are on the inside. Maybe even one day we’ll be able to hold hands with all of God’s children black and white, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, and sing “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Just like Martin Luther King Jr. had dreamed we one day could and began us on the journey to.

So why is there no school on January 21? Opinions may vary. I, for one, think that it is right. We need to remember the efforts of one brave man, who saw a different future. We need one day to reflect on all of the change this man has brought, and how much room there is for more. And we all need this day to recognize our own dreams of how the world one day should be.

More Info On:
Rosa Parks- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
Martin Luther King Jr.- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
“I Have A Dream”- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream