King Still King?

Martin Luther King Jr., born a king, died a king, still a king. However I do believe we have strayed off of his ‘king-ness’ just a little bit.

He was probably the most known civil rights activist, between the Montgomery bus boycott, his campaign in Birmingham and his assassination, MLK never stopped fighting (peacefully of course). He’s a role model to many, and a very important person in history… which is why we get a day off of school.

All throughout grade school, around every MLK day we would always read books and essays and articles, look at pictures and movies, we knew exactly why we had a day off of school. It was almost as if they were trying to get us to appreciate him and his work for more than just the day off. But now, as bad as it may seem, it truly has turned into just a day off school, but I suppose it’s the same for all holidays. Think about it- on President’s Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, do you really think why you’re not sitting in a class? Probably not, I know I don’t. It’s horrible that all these days, dedicated for a reason, are just an excuse not to have school. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll take a day off of school whenever you give it to me, I’m not trying to say that, it’s just that I think maybe we should at least think about why we have it off in the first place.

True, come Monday I probably won’t even remember writing this blog because I’ll be suffocated by homework and Mr. C’s 57 day long Spanish final and I doubt MLK will be on my mind, but I’d like to think that he will be, because he really is still a king and has made so many things possible for us today.

So maybe I’ll stick a Post-It note saying “MLK day, woo!” somewhere in my room and hope that I find it Monday, that way I’ll think about why I have a day off of school, which is fantastic.