51³Ô¹ÏÍø

ATLANTA, US - JANUARY 15: The U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, Jan. 15, to attend events marking the Martin Luther King Day.The day celebrates the life and achievements of Martin Luther King, and it is a commemorative holiday for many Americans.President Ronald Reagan in 1983 officially declared Martin Luther King Jr. Day a federal holiday, which falls around the civil rights icon’s birthday.- Who was this icon?King was born on Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. He helped organize what is considered the first major civil rights protest in America, the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott of 1955-1956, where Blacks refused to ride buses to draw attention to segregated seating.King advocated for civil disobedience and non-violent resistance. But the movement was often met by violence perpetrated by whites, most notably southern whites.Nevertheless, King’s followers stayed true to the non-violence creed and the movement began to grow and capture the attention of Blacks and more liberal whites.In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed. It outlawed racial discrimination in the areas of employment, education and segregation in public facilities, and that same year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.King was killed by a single shot while standing on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. (Footage by Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)