Malcolm X Day is an
American holiday in honor of
Malcolm X that is celebrated on either
May 19 (his birthday) or the third Friday of May. The commemoration of the
civil rights leader
Civil rights leaders are influential figures in the promotion and implementation of political freedom and the expansion of personal civil liberties and rights. They work to protect individuals and groups from political repressio ...
has been proposed as an official state holiday in the U.S. state of
Illinois in 2015 and Missouri as recent as 2019. As of present, only the cities of
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
and
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
in California, observe the holiday with city offices and schools closed.
After
Juneteenth became a federal holiday, there are growing calls for Malcolm X Day to also be observed as a federal holiday.
History
The Malcolm X Day holiday has been an official holiday in the municipality of
Berkeley, California since 1979.
Since then, there have been multiple proposals for the holiday to be official elsewhere. Most recently in 2014, a proposal put forth by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Chicago to make the holiday in the U.S. state of
Illinois.
The Illinois proposal differs from the Berkeley, California resolution in that the holiday would be observed May 19 instead of the third Friday in May. Before that, unsuccessful attempts were made in
Atlanta, Georgia, and
Washington, D.C., with numerous calls for it to be celebrated alongside
Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. In 1993, this holiday was proposed at the federal level to Congress as H.J.R. #323 by Congressman
Charles Rangel. In 2015, the
Illinois Senate unanimously passed the resolution for the official holiday designation where the law "... officially designated 'May 19, 2015, and every May 19 thereafter' as Malcolm X Day. Though the resolution passed making the holiday official, the Illinois official list of holidays still has yet to reflect the holiday.
Observances by state
See also
*
Public holidays in the United States
Notes
References
External links
Malcolm X Day Washington, D.C.
The University of Kansas Medical Center Diversity Calendar
May 19 is now Malcolm X Day in Illinois The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
*
{{US Holidays
Public holidays in the United States
Memorials to Malcolm X
May observances
Culture of Berkeley, California
Government of Berkeley, California
State holidays in the United States
Birthdays