Many around the state will celebrate Civil Rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with marches, parades, rallies, and volunteering events. In Columbia, the NAACP hosted is 20th year of “King Day at the Dome.” The first march and rally
drew a crowd of more than 46,000 people back in 2000. They demanded the Confederate flag be removed from atop the State House. Since then, the event has become the place where local leaders call attention to issues impacting communities, and where presidential hopefuls come to court voters. Today, several candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination were in attendance.
Today also marks 25 years since the federal holiday was designated a national day of service. The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was first observed in 1986. But it was eight years later in 1994 that Congress passed the King Day Holiday and Service Act. With the slogan, “A day on, not a day off,” Americans participated in volunteering events across the country. Barbara Stewart with the Corporation for National and Community Service says South Carolina ranks 32nd in the country for formal volunteering.
