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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 difficulty of civil rights, highlights the usage of nonviolence to advertise 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 seek out service opportunities in a single’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 desert attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
Martin Luther King III speaks at BYU forum
Martin Luther King III speaks within the Marriott Center on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021, as a part of BYU’s forum on “Creating the Beloved Community.”
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 greater than 250,000 supporters.
In that iconic address, he shared his vision for the “beloved community” by which “people of each 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 after which issued a call to students.
Read what he spoke about here.
Making service a component of 1’s life on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
JustServe.org hosts tons of of listings for local volunteer opportunities for individuals who wish to be involved of their communities.
According to the AmeriCorps, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the one federal holiday designated as a national day of service.
For those seeking to volunteer of their community, JustServe offers a way for people to seek out those opportunities, whether through acts of kindness or through an organized volunteer effort. People can search for those service opportunities and projects on JustServe.org, which is a solution to connect community organizations with volunteers.
Learn more about learn how to use JustServe to seek out service opportunities.
Sister Browning, Sister Yee take part in St. Louis food drive honoring the Rev. King
Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor within the Primary general presidency, loads cars on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Tribute food drive in St. Louis, Missouri, on Jan. 16, 2023.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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, a company 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
President Russell M. Nelson receives the Gandi-King-Mandela Peace Prize from Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., professor and founding dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, on the annual WorldHouse Interfaith & Interdenominational Assembly within the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, April 13, 2023.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Honored for his tireless efforts to construct bridges of understanding, preserve freedoms of all humankind and carry the sunshine 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’m deeply honored to receive Morehouse College’s inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize,” said President Nelson in his prerecorded acceptance message, which was shown throughout the WorldHouse Interfaith and Interdenominational Assembly within the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College — a personal historically Black men’s liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia.
Read more concerning the event here.
Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs perform with Tabernacle Choir
The Morehouse College Glee Club and the Spelman College Glee Club perform with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square at its weekly Sunday broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word” within the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023.
Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
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 because 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 concerning the event and their performance during ‘Music & the Spoken Word.’
President Nelson asks all to ‘labor together to desert attitudes and actions of prejudice’
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Rev. Amos C. Brown, representing the NAACP, embrace on the announcement of a latest partnership between the 2 organizations during a press conference within the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City on Monday, June 14, 2021. The partnership will provide $6 million in humanitarian aid over three years to inner cities within the United States, $3 million in scholarship donations over as a few years to the United Negro College Fund, and a fellowship to send as much as 50 students to Ghana to study Black American and African history.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
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 desert attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
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