Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Official Name
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Observed
Monday, January 19, 2009
(always the third Monday in January)

Free Download
This Little Light
(recorded by Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band)

This gospel song was written by Harry Dixon Loes circa 1920. It is often thought of as a slave spiritual, however it does not appear in any collection of jubilee or plantation songs from the 19th century. It became a civil rights anthem in the 1950s and 1960s.

How to Download the Song
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About Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a Federal holiday in the United States that occurs on the third Monday in January each year. The holiday celebrates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the chief spokesman of the civil rights movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s and an advocate of non-violent resistance as a method for social change. The civil rights movement successfully protested racial discrimination in Federal and state law.

The Federal holiday honoring Dr. King was first observed in 1986. In 1994, Congress initiated the King Day of Service, which transforms the holiday into a national day of community service grounded in King's belief in the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals. The aim is to make the holiday a day ON (as opposed to a day off), where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the “beloved community” that Dr. King envisioned.

Music of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

The civil rights movement was perhaps the greatest singing movement in the history of the United States. Songs communicated what people involved in the movement were striving for, and provided them with the strength, courage, and inspiration to endure.

The songs and the movement itself originated primarily in southern black communities. The church was the heart of these communities, and singing was central to their worship experience. Words to well-known spirituals and gospel songs were adapted to become freedom songs. Often a single word or phrase from an old slave spiritual could be changed to convert the song into a contemporary plea for racial equality. Slow-paced spirituals and hymns expressed hope and determination, while rhythmic jubilee spirituals and gospel songs protested boldly and celebrated victory.

As the movement spread throughout the South and into the North, so too did the songs. In the years since the civil rights movment, songs from the movement have been sung by people seeking freedom in other places, including Tiananmen Square and the Berlin Wall.