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Happy MLK Jr Day of Service!
Jan
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the MLK Day of Service
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a Baptist minister who advocated the use of nonviolent means to end racial segregation. He first came to prominence during a bus boycott by African
Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.
He was the most influential of civil rights leaders during the 1960s. He was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination in public places,
facilities, and employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
He also founded the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference in 1957 and led the 1963 March on Washington. King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964. He was
assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Although legislation for a federal holiday was introduced in Congress as early as 1968, there was opposition, on racial and political grounds, to block its passage.
In 1983 legislation making the third Monday in January a federal holiday finally was passed, and the first observance nationwide was in 1986. The day is usually celebrated with marches and parades and with speeches by civil rights and political leaders. This year, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is celebrated on Monday, January 17, 2022.
Dr. King believed that everyone, no matter their skin color, should be treated equally, and it was his vision that inspired and mobilized millions of people to begin righting the wrongs of history.
His courageous, non-violent and peaceful fight to attain equality for all made him one of our nation’s most influential leaders and his legacy continues to shape the course of history to this day.
For ways to celebrate this profound leader…
Visit the link for activities you can do at home as a family:
https://camp.com/articles/ways-to-celebrate-martin-luther-king-jr-day-at-home
Check out these live events in our area —
- Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day: Community Bagel Breakfast +Art-Making
Monday, January 17, 2022; 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM | 609 -924 -8777
Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ
Registration link
The Arts Council of Princeton will be celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This free event will include: Bagel and coffee community breakfast Family-friendly art-making MLK quote lawn signs + posters: Canned foods drive to benefit RISE Food Pantry. This program is free but RSVPs help the organizers plan.
- Spend MLK Day in Nature
Monday, January 17, 2022: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Mountain Lakes House | 57 Mountain Ave., Princeton, NJ
Registration link
Friends of Princeton Open Space, a nonprofit dedicated to land preservation, is hosting a Day of Service in Nature in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Please help us continue our work on the Riparian Restoration Project: Restore the Lakeshore! Volunteers will work under the guidance of our Natural Resources and Stewardship
Director, Anna Corichi, to identify and remove invasive plants species.. We will also install deer-exclusion caging around native tree and shrub saplings.
- West Windsor MLK Day of Service Virtual Panel Discussion
January 17, 2022 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
West Windsor Arts Center | 952 Alexander Rd. Princeton Junction, NJ | 609-716-1931
Call to register. West Windsor Arts is partnering with the African American Parent Support Group (AAPSG) and the WW-P youth chapter of the NAACP to create a “day on, not a day off” to contribute positively to our community through our service. 1. Sign up and complete your project(s) in advance. 2. Deliver to the West Windsor Arts Center on January 17th between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. 3. Our volunteers will accept and help deliver them to the organizations.