We celebrate Martin Luther King Day for a numerous of reasons. The main is because King was a tireless fighter for the civil rights of African Americans who was assassinated in 1968. He is also known for famous speech “I have a dream.”

In his “I Have a Dream” speech, the minister and advocate for equal treatment for all people outlined the long history of unfair racial treatment in America. King encouraged his audience to hold their country responsible to its own founding promises of freedom, justice and equality.

On December 1,1955 an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person and was arrested due to the separating people based on race laws. In support of Parks, King organized the Montgomery Boycott – where many refused to spend money on a business or buy its products. This boycott lasted for 385 days. During this time King was arrested, his home was bombed and he was subjected to personal threats. The protest ended  on December 20, 1956. King is also famous for his letter from the Birmingham Jail which professed his support for non-violence protest.

King was shot and killed at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4,1968, at the age of 39 by James Earl Ray. King is the only person who was not a president to have a national holidy in his honor.