5 Things You Need to Know About MLK Day

We're breaking down what you need to know about the history of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and how it became a holiday in the first place. Spoiler: it wasn't an easy road.

  1. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is January 15th but the holiday is marked on the third Monday of every month.

  2. The effort to make his birthday a national holiday took over three decades and an enormous amount of effort.

  3. Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday is about Martin Luther King, Jr!

  4. The law passed in 1983 and signed by Reagan. The first federal holiday was in 1986.

  5. The journey to all 50 states adopting the holiday took much longer.

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Episode Resources

Transcript

Beth [00:00:00] So many present day corollaries here too, right? The first thing I started thinking about as we were looking into this was how interesting it is to think about the history of debating who gets honored by the federal government and sort of what level you have to ascend to in a democracy to receive that tradition. Because as you read this, that sounds like the stuff of countries that operate under monarchies right. Of course, the private citizen should be eligible for this kind of honor. But it's just interesting to think through that. 

Sarah [00:00:37] This is Sarah Stewart Holland.

Beth [00:00:39] And this is Beth Silvers. 

Sarah [00:00:40] Thank you for joining us for Pantsuit Politics. 

Sarah [00:00:56] Hello, and welcome to another Five Things You Need to Know episode of Pantsuit Politics, we prioritize learning and curiosity here at Pantsuit Politics. And these episodes are a chance for us to learn, to really start with a blank sheet of paper and understand topics we think we know well or topics we've never really understood. And today we're going to talk about the upcoming federal holiday commemorating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But before we get started, Beth, you have some news. 

Beth [00:01:23] Sarah and I were invited to speak as part of Calvin University's January series, which was a tremendous honor, and we were so delighted to receive that invitation and to be part of that event. And responsibly when we arrived at Calvin, after a long day of travel where I experienced staffing shortages firsthand with an unexpected and lengthy delay, we were greeted with rapid tests and in my hotel room at about 11 o'clock at night, I tested positive for COVID and then I immediately spent the rest of the night worrying about the fact that I had just tested positive for COVID. And what I realized, here's one thing I learned it's not good to worry alone. It's just not great to hold on to worry alone. But I didn't want anybody else to be powerless at 11:00 at night with me. So I went through all of that. The next morning I got a second test. I was positive again. Calvin was lovely. They pivoted so unbelievably well. It is one of the best tech teams we have ever worked with, so I was able to speak with Sarah on a screen remotely. I started feeling tired about nine days ago and thought that I had the cold of doom I had tested negative here at home. 

Sarah [00:02:41] But you took a rapid test. 

Beth [00:02:41] Yep, I had tested negative here at home. I stayed at home. I did not leave my house for 9 days. 

Sarah [00:02:46] That's my favorite part that you didn't leave your house for eight days and your family test negative and you test positive. 

Beth [00:02:51] Right. 

Sarah [00:02:51] COVID. Why are you so weird? You're so weird.

Beth [00:02:52] Why are you so weird COVID? So I thought I had handled everything responsibly. I'm congested. I have some mild symptoms. People have been very, very supportive on Instagram, which I appreciate. So I was there in Michigan thinking, how am I going to go home because I cannot fly with a positive test. I Cancel the flight, Alise was very helpful with all of that. Chad rented a car for me. The folks at Calvin were so gracious in helping me get to that rental car, and I drove myself home and got home close to midnight last night. And now I don't want to do anything. I'm just going to be honest with you. I don't. I don't want to do anything for any reason. 

Sarah [00:03:36] Oh, I know. I'm so bummed you feel bad. I definitely amplify all your praise for the team at Calvin. Also, we have just a wildly high number of Calvin alum in our audience, like when we shared being there and how great the team is that they were like, we know we went to school, they're there when there is the best. Although not being there and seeing sort of the values of the university, I actually think it makes a lot of sense. So we have Calvin alumni in our audience, but they really were incredible and you shined it on. I mean, it was pretty seamless. We did a great job. If I don't mind, I don't want to say that. I think we did a really good job despite the fact that you felt so crummy. And so I'm just hoping that you are on the end slope of this, this COVID diagnosis. 

Beth [00:04:27] I hope so, too. I kept telling myself all day we are professionals, we can do this. We are professionals, and I do want to say like, I am proud of how we handled it. I'm proud of myself for asking for very specific forms of help. Proud of myself for driving myself home, which was not the easiest thing I've ever done. And I say that mostly because I know that people are listening who have shined it on in much worse circumstances than I did and for much longer periods of time. And I hope you're taking a minute to be proud of yourself, like for making decisions when your brain feels like scrambled eggs and for showing up to be a professional in situations where it feels impossible to do that. And it's just it's a lot right now and a lot of people are in it so much worse than I am. When I was laying there trying to figure out how to get home, I experienced that like very particular form of claustrophobia where you realize how few choices you have. And that just doesn't happen in my life very often. I'm tremendously grateful that I have all these options, usually. Options make such a difference in life. And so just thinking about all of you who have that feeling of claustrophobia almost daily right now because you have to show up in an office or a health care setting or in a school, whatever it is, just sending lots of love to everybody who has a lot more to be proud of about how they are getting through the day than than I do. And I'll be OK. Fortunately, I can, I can work at home here and isolate pretty easily and I'll get through it and so will my family. 

Sarah [00:06:03] Yeah, I think everybody is feeling a little bit like scrambled eggs right now, which is, hey, it's good because we have a three day weekend coming up with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and we thought we're going to take that Monday off since it's a federal holiday recording. So we thought, Well, let's learn about the holiday itself. So we're going to do that next after the break. 

Sarah [00:06:32] The first thing we want you to know about this holiday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is actually January 15th, but the holiday is marked on the third Monday of every month and this is very interesting. I think we've talked about this legislation on the show before. This is because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The bill was signed into law in 1968 by President Johnson. Originally, it just designated three federal holidays Memorial Day, Veterans' Day and Washington's birthday to fall on a Monday. And Johnson said this would enable families who live some distance apart to spend more time together and allow federal employees time to travel. I can't imagine what it was like when these holidays were falling on like Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays. It probably had to be the weirdest, I would think. 

Beth [00:07:16] I was reading that the travel industry was behind the push for this legislation, that they really wanted federal employees to have the opportunity to travel over three day weekends. I feel like a subtitle for this whole episode is how things actually happen in Congress. 

Sarah [00:07:31] Yes. 

Beth [00:07:31] And so reading that the travel industry was part of this push for a Monday holidays made a lot of sense to me. 

Sarah [00:07:37] I'm not mad at them, though. 

Beth [00:07:39] No, this was a good idea. 

Sarah [00:07:39] It was the first holiday to commemorate a national figure who was not a president and who was black, and will get into why it took so long to get this holiday. And those reasons next. 

Beth [00:07:51] So that's the second thing we would like you to know. It took over three decades to make Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. And just an enormous amount of effort. The first motion to recognize King's birthday as a holiday was filed in 1968, four days after Dr. King was assassinated by Representative John Conyers. 

Sarah [00:08:14] Now Senator Edward Brooks, who was the only Black senator at the time, introduced legislation to make it a day of commemoration but not a holiday in the Senate. And we're going to see that we're going to see that a lot. We're going to see this is a pattern from both sides where like, well, OK, if we can't agree on making it a holiday, let's try something a little less than a holiday. And to the, you know, sort of eternal testament to the will of John Conyers and Coretta Scott King and the people who supported this, they were like, No, no, we will not be settling for a compromise. Thank you so very much. And so a big part of this effort that sort of really accelerated the movement to make it a federal holiday was the founding of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971, and that was really pivotal because this became a real central focus of that caucus. 

Beth [00:09:02] Reading this hit me kind of hard because I was just reading this week about how a number of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus are retiring and how that caucus is really aging and how pivotal it has been to many civil rights related causes in Congress. And it just kind of it. It was a moment where I realized how recent all this history is and how much there is left to do and how the shape of that is really going to change over the next few years. 

Sarah [00:09:31] Yeah. So it took 11 years for it to come up for the first vote before the House of Representatives in 1979. This was the 50th anniversary of King's birth. President Carter supported the effort, although some would say not quite enough. There were 118 co-sponsors in the house and 37 co-sponsors in the Senate. At that point in time, it was Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana who was the co-sponsor really leading the Senate charge. OK, so it made it out of committee in the Senate. No thanks to Strom Thurmond, who tried to make it a national day of recognition. Again, people were like, No. And also as if we're going to take Strom Thurmond's idea about how to commemorate the life of Dr. King. The Republicans who opposed the bill were very concerned. I'm going to use concerned with quotation marks around it about how much it would cost to be a paid holiday for federal employees, and they were concerned about the fact that King was a private citizen, contrary to the tradition of our country. I think this is a weird thing to like hang the word tradition on. Well, the past holidays have been only presidents, and so that's what we have. The only thing we can commemorate moving forward. I also think that's a that's a weird place for a democracy. Like no, we only do, like we only commemorate presidents. That's where the real power lies. Again, so this is interesting. This is like a little nerdy procedural thing. They decided to vote under a suspension of the rules. OK. That's usually reserved for noncontroversial bills. That was not this OK? But it requires a two thirds vote. It limits debates, it prohibits amendments. But you have to get two thirds of a vote for the passage. And so it failed by five votes. It is a weird thing to think about that the first time this came forward, it was under a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president, and it failed. But partially that's because of this procedural choice they made to get out of having to deal with amendments, but that required a much higher threshold to pass. So they tried again with a special rule that would allow for some debate and just a simple majority. But then you had to allow amendments, an amendment making it a Sunday Holiday, pass, but they pulled it. They were like, No see, this is why we didn't want amendments. We knew if we allowed amendments, you'd roll in there and try to make it something less than a federal holiday. So they pulled it until further consideration. And that would have been at the discretion of the sponsors and House leadership, which effectively killed the effort at that time. 

Beth [00:11:58] So many present day corollaries here too, right? The first thing I started thinking about as we were looking into this was how who gets honored at a federal level is changing today, too. We are seeing so many more people given the honor of lying in state in the capital than we have in the past. We had this long history where very few people were honored that way, and that's really accelerated with the death of Justice Ginsburg, with Senator McCain, Senator Reid now. And I was just thinking about how interesting it is to to think about the history of debating who gets honored by the federal government and sort of what level you have to ascend to in a democracy to receive that tradition. Because as you read this, that sounds like the stuff of countries that operate under monarchies, right? But of course, the private citizen should be eligible for this kind of honor. But it's just interesting to think through that. 

Sarah [00:12:56] OK, this is my favorite one. This is my favorite thing I learned. I texted you immediately when I learned this while I was doing all my research for the episode, y'all. Did you know that Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday to You is about the Martin Luther King Day holiday? OK, I'm OK. We're going to do a little excerpt here.

Music [00:13:22] [Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday to You']

Sarah [00:13:35] I mean, I guess I've just never paid that close attention to the verses because the chorus is so snappy. But so this song was a part of a massive organizing effort by the King Center to get the law passed in the 80s. They had a march on Washington. Coretta Scott King presented to Tip O'Neill, who was the House leader at the time, a petition signed by six million people. But it's like this song is now just like passed in the zeitgeist on all the Happy Birthday playlist, and I had no idea what it was about. 

Beth [00:14:04] I love this fact. I also learned that that six million person petition at the time was the largest effort by citizens to make an expression to the government of something that they wanted. All of this is just such a good kind of check in on how hard it is to get seemingly obvious things done in American government. 

Sarah [00:14:25] It's so true. That's what I kept thinking this whole time is this is something, you know, he now has a monument on The Mall. We, you know, have a lot of discussions about his legacy and how best to support it. We'll talk about that later, but nobody really talks about the holiday anymore. And I thought, like, this is just a good example of something that seems so obvious at the time was very controversial and took an enormous amount of effort because it's just it's hard to get things done in America. 

Beth [00:14:52] And at the time was a long stretch of time. And at the time included our lifetime like this. This is so recent it's just really hard to take something like you said. I mean, we've walked through that monument and and it seems so obvious now, but to recognize how controversial it was, what an effort it required. And I mean, thank you, Stevie Wonder for getting involved here. 

Sarah [00:15:26] So it worked. That's the fourth thing we want you to know this at this particular effort, worked, the Law was passed in 1983 and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. The first observance was in 1986, so this 1983 legislation was the 15th anniversary of his death. Conyers set a new record this time around. He had 176 co-sponsors to the House bill, and in the Senate, the companion bill had 34 co-sponsors. And then this was this was an interesting like inside politics, part of this history that I thought was like illuminating and fascinating. So the Congressional Black Caucus at sort of the last minute taps this new representative, Katie Hall from Indiana to lead the new bill. So Conyers, after all this time, what a testament to him. Like, after all this time of leading this, this charge. This representive has come in. Now, she had been appointed to fill the term of Representative Benjamin, who died of a heart attack, and they were worried about a primary challenger. And so they were trying to give her something to really solidify her chance. Put her name out there. Get her attached to something. And so he stepped aside and let her lead the bill across the finish line. That's to me, that is impressive. And the floor debate this time was very lively, very lively this time around. Lots of participation from party leadership, including didn't see this name coming. Newt Gingrich speaking in favor of the bill, but there was under the same suspension of the rule, so it still required two thirds vote. 

Beth [00:16:53] When I was reading all of this about Conyers, it made me think about term limits and this debate that we have all the time and kind of this almost given that it is in American politics right now. Everyone thinks term limits are such a good idea, but there is something pretty beautiful about this man for 30 years working to get this done. And then, as you said, letting someone else carry it across the finish line is a pretty amazing thing. 

Sarah [00:17:18] He had this really great quote, he said. I never viewed it as an isolated piece of legislation to honor one man. Rather, I have always viewed it as an indication of the commitment of the house in the nation to the dream of Dr. King. When we passed this legislation, we should signal our commitment to the realization of full employment, world peace and freedom for all. And then I also love this quote from Jack Kemp, who had voted against it in 1979 and then changed his mind. And he said, I have changed my position on this vote because I really think that the American Revolution will not be complete until we commemorate the Civil Rights Revolution and guarantee those basic declarations of human rights for all Americans and remove those barriers that stand in the way of people being what they are meant to be. 

Beth [00:17:59] So this time it passes with 53 votes more than it needed to get to two thirds. And when it went to the Senate, Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King III conducted prayer vigils outside the Capitol. There was opposition still. Jesse Helms of North Carolina mounted a filibuster, but both party leaders filed a cloture motion against it. Think of that for a minute. 

Sarah [00:18:23] I know, I know. 

Beth [00:18:25] They eventually gave Helms the chance to bring up a tobacco bill and dairy bill to the Ag Committee in exchange for agreeing to unanimous consent to vote. But this was a very hot debate. Helms attacked King's character. He brought in this like bananas 400 page document that got thrown on the floor and called a bunch of filth. I mean, it was a whole thing. Kennedy attacked him. Another Republican came in and moved for Kennedy's word 'false' to be stricken from the record. There was this whole discussion about whether King was actually a communist. I mean, it's it was dramatic and a lot, but they got it done. 

Sarah [00:19:03] That's all a matter. They got it done. OK, but see, the fifth thing we want you to know is that the journey to all 50 states adopting the holiday took much longer. So we get the federal holiday first commemorated in 1986. Now by the by that time, 17 states had already adopted it. Some states mad praise to Illinois, Massachusetts and Connecticut had adopted it before the federal holiday, so they already had the state holiday. 

Beth [00:19:28] I think a lot of Americans don't know that states don't have to recognize federal holidays. I know that's like a news flash for many of us because it doesn't. We just we'll just have these calendars that say the things, and we think we're all on the same page, but not so much. 

Sarah [00:19:42] Probably the calendar industry, they're like, Listen, we can't do this differently for every 50 state, y'all. They all have to be the same. Get it together. OK, so the real controversy arose in Arizona because in 1990. So again, four years. Four years in. 1990. Arizona. I'm not going say anything mean about you, but you make choices. OK, so they put the holiday up for a referendum because entertainers were boycotting the state. Here we go again. NFL, NFL threatened to move the Super Bowl from Tempe, Arizona, if the holiday did not win the referendum, and it didn't. It lost in a two part voter referendum and the NFL said OK. Fine. And they took the the Super Bowl to Southern California, costing the state an estimated $500 million in revenue, and I thought, Oh, so this is also a place we've been before. Good to know. Good to know. Makes me feel better. Now, Arizona voters did ultimately approve the referendum two years later because referendums are crazy. Sorry, just getting that off my chest. 

Beth [00:20:47] It's taken a long time, though, South Carolina didn't come on board until 2000. 

Sarah [00:20:52] South Carolina. 

Beth [00:20:52] And we have a bunch of states that have tried to do, 'OK but' about this. 

Sarah [00:21:01] Mmhmm. Lots of that. Lots of that.

Beth [00:21:02] OK. We'll celebrate it. But we're also going to call it Human Rights Day. OK, we'll celebrate it. But we're also going to celebrate Robert E. Lee Day at the same time, so many and not just southern states: Idaho, New Hampshire, there are lots of states you should just as a fun homework to this episode see what this holiday is officially called in your state and when it passed, because it is fascinating and somewhat discouraging and very, very illuminating about state government to see the process of getting to all 50 states actually honoring this holiday. 

Sarah [00:21:44] So even to this day in Alabama and Mississippi, Robert Lee's birthday, which is January 19th, officially coincides with Martin Luther King's Federal Holiday. So I think we can officially say that's a bad way to celebrate. That's where that's a thumbs down. But I feel like in the last couple of years, there has been a lot of discussion about quote unquote like the right way to celebrate. Like, definitely on social media, there's a perpetual like, don't throw up a quote and think that you're like honoring his legacy. You know, for what it's worth, the King Center does an amazing job, especially like since the pandemic with virtual events, they have like a lot. I was looking through the schedule of events this year and thought, Oh, I'm going to do some of these with my kids like and my local community. There is a march to the King memorial every year in a weekend full of activities organized organized by the NAACP. I definitely think if you know, outside the pandemic, when there is a way to gather with the community, that's always a really great way to mark the day. But what do you make of these this this ongoing social media debate about the quote unquote right way to celebrate? 

Beth [00:22:51] Well, I think there's probably not a right way to celebrate. I think that's probably a lofty goal that we're never all going to agree on, and that's OK. And I don't think it should be one thing. What I really loved about learning about the history of getting this holiday passed at the federal level was seeing those quotes where people were saying this isn't just about one person. This is symbolic of a larger movement and our ongoing commitment to it. One thing that feels good to me is is providing this information as we're in the midst of this national debate on critical race theory in this conversation about whether racism is over in America. I think it's pretty important to say, Hey, like in 1990, Arizona didn't want to have this holiday. It failed on a referendum. So the idea that racism has been over for a long time is just not borne out in the history here. 

Beth [00:23:59] I also really like it when you, Sarah, talk about how our our tendency to hero worship in this country is pretty destructive for us and that a beautiful way to honor people who represent a movement like this is to see the small efforts going on all around you and to see where lots and lots of people are contributing to make a difference. That feels like an invitation to me that's important around this holiday. What do you think? 

Sarah [00:24:28] I think you're right. I think, you know, local efforts and more expansive understanding of the history are important. I think those are really positive, sort of developments in how we think about history that have happened over the last couple of years. But I also think, you know this man, deserves to be commemorated because his legacy is very expansive, like there is so much to commemorate and celebrate within his life, just in his writing like he was so prolific. And, to me, I think how I always try to mark the day is just to spend some time with his actual words. And I don't mean like a quote on Instagram. I mean, like 

Both [00:25:14] with the letter from Birmingham Jail. 

Sarah [00:25:16] I mean, we read that that was required reading for every freshman in our university. I think about it all the time. And even so, I mean, I think some of his later writing where he was really moving to focus on the Vietnam War and poverty and I mean his just for as short, tragically short as his life was, his work and writing and sort of thought processes are so expensive, there is still so much to read and take in and think about as we commemorate his life. And I and I I think in contained within his work is always that acknowledgment of like, it's not just about me. This is this is the work of all of us, like this is the work of the beloved community. I think that's why he's so special is like, if you're really commemorating his life, there isn't a lot of room for hero worship. If you're really reading his words, there is always direction to look close to home and look at those around you and, you know, think about the systems at play. And I just think that's why he's so powerful and I think having one day every year where we can, at the very least, like look at this man's legacy and think about his words is is a gift to all of us. And it's the very least we can do. 

Both [00:26:36] Legacy is such a good word too, because what a beautiful job his family has done. Continuing that work and that legacy and leading through the conversation about what is a proper way to commemorate his life. I really pay attention to and marvel at the way that that his family members have continued this work in the way they express themselves publicly and and continue to show up for it. It would, I'm sure, be easier to not have, you know, to have kind of stepped aside. But what a what a remarkable group of people. 

Sarah [00:27:15] Yes, I highly recommend following his daughter, Bernice A.  King on Instagram. She also just does a good job of sharing like what the King Center is doing and so much amazing information. And I think a lot of people will find helpful as we mark this incredibly important holiday across the country in every state. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Pantsuit Politics. Our Tuesday episode next week will be a Wednesday episode as we take the day off for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and we will be back in your ears, then I hope everybody has the best weekend available to them. 

Both [00:28:00] Pantsuit Politics is produced by Studio D Podcast Production. Alise Napp is our managing director.

Sarah Maggie Penton is our community engagement manager. Dante Lima is the composer and performer of our theme music. 

Beth Our show is listener-supported. Special thanks to our executive producers. 

Executive Producers (Read their own names)  Martha Bronitsky, Ali Edwards, Janice Elliot, Sarah Greenup, Julie Haller, Helen Handley, Tiffany Hassler, Emily Holladay, Katie Johnson, Katina Zuganelis Kasling, Barry Kaufman, Molly Kohrs.

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