Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observed on Monday, January 21, 2013

In observance of the national holiday celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Culture and Language Academy of Success will be closed on Monday, January 21, 2013. Dr. King’s legacy and contributions to the our nation are undeniable. He stands as the embodiment of excellence and commitment to our families, communities, nation, and people.

On Monday, as a way of honoring Dr. King’s tireless dedication to human rights and justice, we encourage our students and families to not take the day off, but instead visit the internet and/or the local library to explore and research Dr. King’s accomplishments on a more in-depth level than is often presented in commercial media sound-bites about his life and legacy.

For instance, did you know that Dr. King enrolled at Morehouse College at the tender age of fifteen because his academic achievement in school allowed him to skip both the ninth and twelfth grades? Or that he graduated from Morehouse in 1948 with a B.A. in Sociology when he was just nineteen years old? Another fact often obscured when celebrating his life is that in addition to his much discussed role as a civil rights leader, he also became increasingly critical of poverty in the United States and took a strong stand against the Vietnam War. Many believe that there was little coincidence between his assassination and him connecting the condition of Blacks in the U.S. at the time to poor and oppressed peoples’ struggles internationally.

A great place to begin finding valuable information on the life and legacy of Dr. King can be found at The King Center website. We also encourage you to spend part of the day celebrating Dr. King at the Los Angeles Kingdom Day Parade on Saturday, January 19th, or one of the King Day events taking place in Southern California.