MLK Holiday: The Largest Petition in Favor of Any Cause, In The Nation

It's easy to forget now but in the eighties it was quite a controversial and divisive issue, the question of whether MLK's birthday should become a national holiday.

There was a push to make his birthday a holiday first in 1979, led by Congressman John Conyers, but it did not get enough votes in Congress to make it through. so a couple of years later, a new push as made to properly honor this civil rights titan. This time the push was made through ramping up public support, especially through a huge hit song by Stevie Wonder arguing the case. It culminated in what the Natioin magazine called "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history." And once and for all, despite opposition even from President Ronald Reagan himself, the bill passed with a veto proof majority and dwas signed into law.

MLK Holiday: The Largest Petition in Favor of Any Cause, In The Nation wikipedia

...The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single "Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 article in The Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history."

MLK Holiday: The Largest Petition in Favor of Any Cause, In The Nation