Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on Jan.16 and is a day of remembrance and service. But one unspoken perspective of the holiday is the promotion of parties, which may not be the message of Dr. King.
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Many people use the holiday to pay tribute, whereas others use it for opportunistic reasons.
Over the years, one common occurrence on the holiday are nightclubs using photos of MLK for promotional posters to advertise their parties over the long weekend. In cities across the country, posters are distributed yearly with Dr. King photoshopped to make the poster more appealing to the younger generation.
Photoshops in the past include MLK wearing jewelry and baseball caps with half-naked women surrounding him. In fact, many Twitter users have begged clubs to stop doing it.
Dr. King fought for equality and never encouraged people to behave loosely and partying. Star producer Pharrell called for economic equality on MLK Day last year, which Dr. King also fought for.
In a 2006 episode of The Boondocks, Dr. King was brought back to life to look at the world four decades after he passed away. One of the scenes includes a fiery speech to a crowd of people behaving erratically at an event.
In addition, Dr. King promoted peace, and many streets named after him across the country are stereotypically associated with violence. The holiday has also seen murders of rappers on the holiday weekend.
Dr. King fought for equality and progression when it came to race and a person’s character. A message that could be delivered on MLK Day is to promote unity and not degeneracy by posting insensitive images of Dr. King on a poster.
MLK Day should be celebrated with people paying tribute and honoring his legacy rather than disrespecting it.
