MLK Day has been designated as a national day of service (Credit: Points of light.org) Celebrated annually on the third Monday of January, Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors the life and legacy of one of the most influential leaders of the American civil rights movement. Designated a national day of service by the US Congress, the federal holiday encourages citizens to help realize the Baptist minister's vision of a “beloved community” by bridging racial and ethnic barriers, addressing social issues, and volunteering to improve their communities. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) grew up in a world where black and white people led disparate lives. They dined at different restaurants, attended different schools, and even sat separately in specially marked areas when traveling on buses and trains. The young boy believed segregation was a way of life across the country until he went to work in the tobacco fields of Hartford, Connecticut, in the summer of 1944. In a letter to his father, the then 15-year-old MLK said, "After we passed Washington, there was no discrimination at all. The white people here are very nice. We go to any place we want to and sit anywhere we want to.”