It speaks to the power of music, the power of the people and to the power of ancestral alignment. Also, despite being signed into law in 1983, the federal government first celebrated King Day on Monday, January 20, 1986. Sometimes it even falls on his actual birthday of January 15. Regardless of the day off or on, it is a federal holiday and federal employees do not work on King Day, which is usually the third Monday of January. Some, however, do offer it as a floating holiday for employees. In fact, fewer than 50% of American companies recognize King Day. (New Hampshire was the last, in 1999, using it to replace Civil Rights Day.) Yet, it’s 2023 and not all companies are in compliance, though those same companies often happily release Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas as non negotiable holidays. However, by the year 2000, all states were in compliance. And to this day, many companies still won’t allow their employees to have the day to volunteer for the King Day of Service or to volunteer. Though the vote passed, some states - and many companies - still refused to honor Dr. Let’s consider the second and third sections of the song: On October 19, 1983, the bill passed Senate and on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed it into law. The naysayers were ready to vote it down except their plan to use FBI files against King’s memory fell flat. King’s legendary “I Have A Dream” speech, the anniversary of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the 15th anniversary of King’s assassination, it finally happened. Then, in 1983, after the 20th anniversary of the Dr. M.L.K Gala at The Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta Georgia, Janu(Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images Getty Images Did “Happy Birthday” win a Grammy?ĭespite being one of Wonder’s most famous songs, “Happyīirthday” did not receive a Grammy nomination.ATLANTA JANUARY 01: Martin Luther King III, Stevie Wonder and Coretta Scott King backstage during. “Happy Birthday” was not released as a single in the United States. Despite this, it still managed to reach number 70 on the Billboard R&B chart. It peaked at number-two on the UK Singles charts. How did “Happy Birthday” perform on the charts? The concert was held to commemorate the 60 th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II inheriting the British crown. This event was attended by members of the British Royal Family. Stevie Wonder performed this song in 2012 at the Diamond Jubilee Concert in London.Martin Luther King is the only American who was not a President whose birthday is a national holiday. King’s widow) finally came into fruition in November of 1983 through the approval of US President Ronald Reagan. The efforts to create a Martin Luther King national holiday (spearheaded by Stevie Wonder and Coretta Scott King, Dr.King holiday failing to get passed into law. On multiple occasions, Wonder said he wrote this song in direct response to a 1979 bill to create a nationwide Dr.It’s noteworthy to mention that Wonder began this campaign when he was just 17. In other words, Stevie Wonder used the song as part of his campaign to create a national holiday in honor of Dr.(the same place Martin Luther King made the unforgettable “I Have a Dream” speech back in 1963) to get the holiday legalized. Over 100,000 people attended this event, and of course Stevie performed “Happy Birthday” at the rally. As such, on 15 January 1981 Stevie Wonder organized a rally at the National Mall in Washington D.C. King and a call for others to join Stevie in observing 15 January 1981 “as a national holiday” a few years before Martin Luther King Day was officiated.
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