Celebrating MLK Jr. Day!

Today, or the 3rd Monday in January, is dedicated to honoring Martin Luther King, Jr, although his actual birthday was January 15th.

King was born in 1928 to a pastor and a schoolteacher. He attended segregated public schools and was accepted to Morehouse College at the age of 15. Originally he started in medical school but then was influenced by the President of the college and went to study ministry. King continued his coursework and earned his doctorate from Boston University in 1953.

After earning his doctorate, he moved to Montgomery Alabama. Following shortly thereafter, racial segregation in schools was ruled unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus Boycott began after Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white person. The boycott marked King as their leader and official spokesperson. Because of this, King became a national spotlight for nonviolent protests for racial equality.

Throughout the next years of his life, he began traveling across the nation and across the world giving speeches about nonviolent protests and pushing racial equality.

In 1963, King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his most famous, "I Have a Dream" speech. "I Have a Dream" was a hopeful vision that one day all races would be treated equally without regard to color. The speech was heard around the world and gave so many African Americans hope.

With focus on injustice from King, the 15th Amendment (ratified in 1870) was enforced and guaranteed the right to vote to all African Americans with the help of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The Voting Rights Act was focused on removing barriers at the state and local levels that tried to prevent African Americans from voting, including having to pass literacy tests.

As other African Americans gained momentum and attention to help fighting for injustices, King broadened his focus on other injustices including poverty.

King was assassinated in 1968 at a motel in Memphis. King's legacy continues today as his birthday is celebrated each year on the 3rd Monday in January since 1986.

As we honor the wisdom and bravery of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we also want to step in line and support his vision that (in his words) "...all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last." An Otter Milestone strongly stands on the grounds of eliminating segregation and treating all by their character alone. The kinship and brotherhood our company's culture was founded on was one of a positive atmosphere where everyone can be celebrated and recognized. We are grateful for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr for being one of many leading the way to unity and strengthening all by helping one another.