{"id":18775,"date":"2021-01-17T22:57:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T22:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theoklahomaeagle.net\/?p=18775"},"modified":"2021-01-17T22:57:41","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T22:57:41","slug":"theres-always-a-reason-to-celebrate-mlk-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/2021\/01\/17\/theres-always-a-reason-to-celebrate-mlk-day\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThere\u2019s Always A Reason To Celebrate MLK Day\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Rebecca Marks Jimerson<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"subscriber-preview\">\nAmerica has been observing and celebrating, in most states, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday for 26 years.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-preview\">\nThe federal holiday, which went into effect in 1986 and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Nov. 3, 1983, is traditionally celebrated annually on the third Monday of January with galas, parades, speeches and more locally and across the nation.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nIt\u2019s also the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities, according to AmeriCorps, which has led this effort for the past quarter century.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nBecause we\u2019re still in the middle of a global pandemic with numbers climbing daily, the normal recognitions and celebrations have come to a screeching halt to keep people safe.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nAnd, in our eyes, that\u2019s the smart thing to do.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nIn light of the unfortunate events that occurred Jan. 6 at our nation\u2019s Capitol, there\u2019s still a myriad of reasons to pay homage to MLK Day 2021 by just being kind to those in your community on that day and, for that matter, each and every day.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nKing fought for freedom not only for Black Americans, but for all Americans. We wonder whether he were still alive today how he would feel about all the racial and social unrest that has somehow returned with a new vengeance.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nWe\u2019re sure he would be doing everything in his power to help heal our land, and that\u2019s where we have the opportunity to try and do the same.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nIt doesn\u2019t take much.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nHis life, which was tragically cut short April 4, 1968, exemplified the American spirit of perseverance and activism that transcends time and is still relevant today.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nMost of King\u2019s messages spoke of peace, which we desperately need in these times for obvious reasons.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nKing once said: \u201cWe must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.\u201d\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nThose words still are just as profound and true today.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nSo, even though this year\u2019s MLK Day won\u2019t be like years past, there\u2019s still a reason to celebrate. Here\u2019s hoping you make a difference when and where you can.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"subscriber-only\">\nHappy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Rebecca Marks Jimerson &nbsp; America has been observing and celebrating, in most states, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday for 26 years. The federal holiday, which went into effect in 1986 and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Nov. 3, 1983, is traditionally celebrated annually on the third Monday of January&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,103,104,106],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-18775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","category-local","category-tulsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18775"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=18775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}