Since 1986, Americans have celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the third Monday of January.
Dr. King is known throughout the world as one of the main spiritual and physical leaders of the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the United States throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Known for his tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience, Dr. King helped bring national attention to the brutality imposed upon African-Americans throughout the United States, particularly in the South, as a result of then-lawful racial segregation policies.
Leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott of in 1955 and later delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the National Mall during the 1963 March on Washington, Dr. King became the youngest recipient of the heralded Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In his remarks after receiving the award, Dr. King famously said:
“Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free.”
Today at Hornblower New York, we thank and remember Dr. King for his selfless devotion to progressing racial equality through peaceful means in the United States, and for his many sacrifices to ensure that all men and women of every generation has the opportunity to live freely and in harmony with one another.
Check Out These MLK Day Events in New York City:
29th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Acclaimed activist and educator Dr. Cornel West is the keynote speaker at BAM’s yearly celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Following the speech are performances by the New York Fellowship Mass Choir and Sandra St. Victor & Oya’s Daughter, as well as the art exhibition “Picture the Dream” by NYCHA Atlantic Terminal Community Center students and a 1pm screening of the film The Central Park Five, about five young black and latino men who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman, directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Historic Harlem Walking Tour
Learn about New York’s links to the civil-rights movement on a special edition of Big Onion’s Historic Harlem Walking Tour. Notable stops along the two-hour trek include the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; the NYC headquarters of the NAACP; and the Harlem Hospital Center, where the reverend was treated in 1958 after being stabbed with a letter opener in a bookstore.
Cultural Connections Performance: Berean Community Drumline
Crown Heights teen group the Berean Community Drumline celebrates African-American culture and Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with the joy of music.
For even more MLK Day events in the New York area, visit TimeOut New York‘s website.