Martin Luther King Jr. Day, held on the third Monday of January, arrives this year after months of Black Lives Matter civil rights protests after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police and a recession that has disproportionately hurt Black Americans (article available here).
It also follows an attack on the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 by supporters of President Donald Trump, including many white nationalists trying to discredit the votes of Black Americans who backed President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Harris will be the nation's first Black and first Asian vice president.
Most of the annual Martin Luther King Day celebrations this year were canceled due to the pandemic. But after a year dominated by racial turmoil, many cities decided to commemorate the holiday virtually.