The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

WASHINGTON — The White House installed a rare signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation in the Oval Office on Monday, just in time for President Obama to mark his first Martin Luther King’s Birthday in office. Mr. Obama invited a small group of African-Americans, all octogenarians or older, and their grandchildren to visit with him and view the document, one of 48 “authorized copies” that President Abraham Lincoln signed in 1864.

It has been easy for people to forget in the decades since we lost the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he was a passionate fighter for economic justice as well as civil rights. The two goals were as closely linked as the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water. The historic gathering in 1963 at which Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech was officially called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. And when Dr. King was murdered in Memphis in 1968, he had gon...

On Jan.18, the nation celebrates the birthday of civil-rights activist, religious leader, famous orator and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Despite his untimely death 42 years ago, Americans still look to his message for inspiration and guidance to confront today's struggles. DiversityInc asked Black leaders to share their thoughts on King's body of work and how it resonates in modern-day society.

Fifty years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Waterloo’s West High School, its renovated auditorium will be rededicated with a memorial to the slain civil rights leader. A bust of King sculpted by Waterloo native John Jago and built into the podium where he spoke will be unveiled Sunday. The bust, 1.5 times life-size, will be kept in the foyer. Principal Gail Moon said civil rights activist Anna Mae Weems, who brought King to Iowa, will speak at the ceremony, which will sho...