Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a national holiday observed every third Monday in January. In 1994, Congress passed a bill dedicating the day as a national day of service. The holiday recognizes the Rev. King’s legacy, focuses on the issue of civil rights, highlights the use of nonviolence to promote change and calls people into public service.
Here are six stories on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: the Rev. King’s son speaking at BYU, resources to find service opportunities in one’s community, leaders from the Relief Society and Primary general presidencies serving in a food drive honoring the Rev. King, President Nelson receiving the inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize, Morehouse College and Spelman College glee club members performing with the Tabernacle Choir, and the Prophet asking all to “labor together to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
Martin Luther King III speaks at BYU forum
On Aug. 28, 1963, American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to more than 250,000 supporters.
In that iconic address, he shared his vision for the “beloved community” in which “people of every race, religion and nation could live together in peace and harmony and work together for the common progress of humankind.”
Speaking to the Brigham Young University campus community on Sept. 28, 2021, the Rev. King’s oldest son, Martin Luther King III, talked again of his father’s hope for the beloved community and then issued a call to students.
Read what he spoke about here.
Making service a part of one’s life on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
According to the AmeriCorps, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service.
For those looking to volunteer in their community, JustServe offers a way for people to find those opportunities, whether through acts of kindness or through an organized volunteer effort. People can look for those service opportunities and projects on JustServe.org, which is a way to connect community organizations with volunteers.
Learn more about how to use JustServe to find service opportunities.
Sister Browning, Sister Yee participate in St. Louis food drive honoring the Rev. King
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023, Sister Kristin M. Yee of the Relief Society general presidency and Sister Tracy Y. Browning of the Primary general presidency participated in a drive-thru food drive in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Tribute food drive was presented by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, an organization that has provided social services to the St. Louis area for over a century. Its mission is to empower African Americans and others to secure economic self-reliance, social equality and civil rights.
Read more about their experience here.
Morehouse College honors President Nelson with Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize
Honored for his tireless efforts to build bridges of understanding, preserve freedoms of all humankind and carry the light of truth worldwide, President Russell M. Nelson was named the inaugural laureate of the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize from Morehouse College on April 13, 2023.
“I am deeply honored to receive Morehouse College’s inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize,” said President Nelson in his prerecorded acceptance message, which was shown during the WorldHouse Interfaith and Interdenominational Assembly in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College — a private historically Black men’s liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia.
Read more about the event here.
Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs perform with Tabernacle Choir
When the Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. — dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College — presented President Nelson the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize in April 2023, he hinted at a future collaboration between the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
This idea became a reality as the Morehouse College Glee Club and Spelman College Glee Club traveled to Salt Lake City to perform live with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for “Music & the Spoken Word” on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023.
Read more about what the glee club members said about the event and their performance during ‘Music & the Spoken Word.’
President Nelson asks all to ‘labor together to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice’
In commemoration of the birth of the Rev. King, President Nelson posted a message on social media on Jan. 17, 2022, asking all to “labor together to abandon attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
