On Monday, communities across Michigan will gather to honor the legacy of the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., who visited Detroit and Michigan many times during his life.
Though assassinated at 39 years old while in Memphis, Tennessee, to support a strike by sanitation workers, King’s advocacy for justice and equality live on across the nation through the federal holiday and beyond.
That legacy includes a local impact here in Michigan.
It was in Detroit that King first delivered lines that eventually became part of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, during the Walk to Freedom on June 23, 1963, according to Visit Detroit.
He also often preached at the Detroit Central Methodist Church, delivering his final sermon there two weeks before his assassination, according to the University of Michigan’s Human Resources department. King visited the U-M campus in 1962, met with students and delivered two speeches.
This year, the federal holiday falls on the same day as Inauguration Day for President-elect Donald Trump.
Here’s what to know.
What events are slated for MLK Jr. Day in Michigan?
Communities across the state will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day this month. Here are some upcoming events to mark the federal holiday in Michigan:
A Day of Service & Song in Traverse City: Building Bridges with Music will host a Day of Service & Song from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Alluvion in Traverse City. The event will feature all day art and music installations, a morning song, dance and mindfulness activity followed by free community lunch, an arts and crafts activity, a human rights poetry activity and an evening concert at the City Opera House.Who was Martin Luther King Jr.
Community Celebration in Flint: The Flint Public Library will host the annual Community Celebration for MLK Jr. Day from 2-4 p.m. Saturday.
MLK Day 25th annual Corporate Breakfast in Grand Rapids: The Urban League of West Michigan will host the 25th annual MLK Day Corporate Breakfast Monday at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. The event will begin with networking at 7 a.m., with the breakfast starting at 7:30 a.m.
40th annual Day of Celebration in Lansing: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid-Michigan will host the 40th annual Day of Celebration 11 a.m. Monday at the Lansing Center.
Day of Service in Marquette: Northern Michigan University in Marquette’s Volunteer Center will host a Day of Service bracelet making activity for MLK Jr. Day from 2-3 p.m. on Monday.
Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent Black civil rights activist and Baptist minister from Atlanta. He famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of more than 250,000 during a civil rights march in Washington, D.C., in 1963, according to NPR.
He was married to Coretta Scott King and had four children.
When was Martin Luther King Jr. killed?
King was assassinated in 1968 at age 39 in Memphis, Tennessee, by James Earl Ray, PBS said.
Shortly after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, King was shot and mortally wounded as he stood on the second-floor balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at St. Joseph Hospital, the National Archives said.
When was MLK Jr. born?
King was born Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Did King win the Nobel Prize?
At the age of 35, in 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.
Who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr.
King was shot by James Earl Ray from a window across the street from the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
On April 23, 1967, Ray escaped from the Missouri State Penitentiary. Over the following 11½-month period, he traveled extensively, residing in Chicago, Montreal, Birmingham, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
On the afternoon of April 1968, posing as John Willard, Ray rented a room at a Memphis roominghouse near the Lorraine Motel.
An international manhunt culminated with Ray’s capture at Heathrow Airport in London, England, on June 8, 1968. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison in 1969, where he eventually died in 1998.
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Is MLK Jr. Day a federal holiday?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday in the U.S. It is observed annually on the third Monday in January.
What are the origins of the federal holiday?
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday on Nov. 2, 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law, according to the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
However, efforts to establish a federal holiday in honor of King began shortly after his assassination in 1968, with civil rights activists pushing for 15 years for the holiday, according to the museum.
Once MLK Jr. Day took effect in 1983, it would be another 17 years before all 50 states recognized the federal holiday.
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Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan to mark MLK Jr. Day 2025 with observances