Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the United States Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.  It is celebrated on the third Monday of January each year. This year Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on 20 January.

The Thammasat University Library owns several books by and about Martin Luther King Jr.

Among places outside the United States where Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed is the city of Hiroshima, Japan, where King’s message of peaceful human rights is especially meaningful. In Wassenaar, The Netherlands, there is also an annual Dr. Martin Luther King Tribute and Dinner in January.

Thailand and Martin Luther King Day

As the website of the The Friends for Asia Foundation indicates, it is not necessary for students to be American or African American to be inspired by the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Friends for Asia Foundation develops international volunteer projects that assist local communities overcome challenges, and provides volunteers with the experience of contributing to those communities as a valued participant. It recommends

Bringing the spirit of community service to Thailand on Martin Luther King Day

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” — Martin Luther King Jr.

For anyone committed to community service and helping those less fortunate themselves, there are few better times to honor this commitment than Martin Luther King Day…

Of all the volunteer destinations worldwide, Thailand continues to be one of the most popular. Volunteering in Thailand offers a range of distinct advantages: the weather’s great, the people are friendly, the food is delicious, and it offers a range of distinct, exciting and rewarding volunteer opportunities. Here is just a small sample:

• Children’s Home Volunteer — Chiang Mai

Caregiving at a Home for Single Mothers in Crisis

This is one of the most rewarding volunteering projects you can undertake anywhere in Thailand. By working at a rural Chiang Mai Children’s Home you can truly dedicate yourself to helping these children. Typically, duties include helping children with homework, assisting with chores around the orphanage, and playing with children during free time. The children benefit on a number of levels. Just by spending time with them you will be enriching their lives, while also giving them the chance to learn English from a native English speaker.

• Women’s Empowerment Volunteer — Bangkok

A unique opportunity to enrich the lives of at-risk mothers and their children in Thailand’s capital. While Thailand is continuing to develop and prosper at an astonishing pace, many disadvantaged people are still being left behind — especially in this populous and sprawling metropolis. Young women from broken homes and abusive backgrounds come here from all around Thailand. As a volunteer, you will help enrich their lives through a variety of activities, including helping with their children, education, professional development, and more.

• Low-Cost / Rural Schools English Teaching Volunteer — Chiang Mai.   Girl’s Home 6

Ideal for those looking looking to experience the real Thailand while gaining teaching and volunteer experience. Volunteers work with Thai teachers to plan and deliver fun and engaging English lessons, and can even lead classes on their own teaching kids anywhere between kindergarten and Grade 12. All volunteer schools are located outside Chiang Mai city, so it’s a great way to experience a real slice of rural life in Thailand. Please visit our Low-Cost / Rural Schools Project page for more info.

If you are interested in honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King in Thailand, or a range of other exciting locations around Asia, Friends For Asia offers a range of unique and rewarding opportunities.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was influenced by Asian thinkers, especially Mahatma Gandhi and the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh.

The TU library owns a number of books by and about Mahatma Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hanh.

Memorable sayings 

Here are some thoughts by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

• It is a trite yet urgently true observation that if America is to remain a first-class nation, it cannot have second-class citizens.
• Whenever racial discrimination exists it is a tragic expression of man’s spiritual degeneracy and moral bankruptcy. Therefore, it must be removed not merely because it is diplomatically expedient, but because it is morally compelling.
• I feel that this way of non-violence is vital because it is the only way to reestablish the broken community. It is the method which seeks to implement the just law by appealing to the conscience of the great decent majority who through blindness, fear, pride or irrationality have allowed their consciences to sleep.
• The non-violent resistors can summarize their message in the following simple terms: we will take direct action against injustice without waiting for other agencies to act. We will not obey unjust laws or submit to unjust practices. We will do this peacefully, openly and cheerfully because our aim is to persuade. We adopt the means of non-violence because our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our acts. We will always be willing to talk and seek fair compromise, but we are ready to suffer when necessary and even risk our lives to become witnesses to the truth as we see it.
• Doors are opening now that were not open in the past, and the great challenge facing minority groups is to be ready to enter these doors as they open. No greater tragedy could befall us at this hour but that of allowing new opportunities to emerge without the concomitant preparedness to meet them.
• We must set out to do a good job irrespective of race. We must seek to do our life’s work so well that nobody could do it better.

The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness (1960); Address at the Golden Anniversary Conference of the National Urban League, 6 September 1960, New York, N.Y

• We want to rely upon the goodwill of those who oppose us. Indeed, we have brought forward the method of nonviolence to give an example of unilateral goodwill in an effort to evoke it in those who have not yet felt it in their hearts. But we know that if we are not simultaneously organizing our strength we will have no means to move forward. If we do not advance, the crushing burden of centuries of neglect and economic deprivation will destroy our will, our spirits and our hope. In this way, labor’s historic tradition of moving forward to create vital people as consumers and citizens has become our own tradition, and for the same reasons.
• History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.

Speaking to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) on 11 December 1961.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)