Today’s editorial is written by Lisa Hayes, youth participant in the Youth Development Program at the Workforce Development Resource Center in Ironton.

Monday, January 08, 2001

Today’s editorial is written by Lisa Hayes, youth participant in the Youth Development Program at the Workforce Development Resource Center in Ironton. Miss Hayes reminds us that next Monday marks an important observance – Dr. Martn Luther King Jr. Day.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born the first son and second child to the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 1929. As a child, he was enrolled into David T. Howard Elementary School. He later attended the Atlanta University Laboratory School and Booker T. Washington High School.

Because of his high scores on the college entrance examinations in his junior year of high school, he advanced to Morehouse College without formal graduation from Booker T. Washington. Having skipped both the ninth and twelfth grades, Dr. King entered Morehouse at the age of 15.

In 1948, Dr. King graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. degree in sociology, and he subsequently received numerous awards of high importance.

After giving countless speeches, including "I’ve been to the mountain top " and the acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, and participating in many protests, including the March on Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray, who was later convicted of this crime.

Dr. King was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., while he was helping sanitation workers protest against low wages and intolerable work conditions. Mr. Ray was sentenced to the Tennessee State Penitentiary for 99 years after pleading guilty to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As we come to the day of celebration of this amazing person, we must all remember, when you’ve got friends to wish you well, you’ll find your point when you exhale.