[9dstpm]

That is really sad that not everyone observes King's birthday as they should. I just found out recently that the City of Saginaw School District as well as Saginaw Township Community Schools and the Buena Vista School District (these are all in Saginaw) has NEVER acknowledged the third Monday in January as King's birthday; it was instead observed as the end of the first semester and was made a teacher workday. This year, however, all the school districts will observe King's birthday. All offices and schools will be closed and teachers and students will not report. I was fairly shocked by this, esp. with the City schools b/c the City school district has the 3rd largest enrollment of African-American students in the state behind Detroit and Flint.

Even the colleges here in MI do not celebrate King's birthday. Every year I attended Saginaw Valley State I have always had to attend class on that day. Some of my professors decided not to have class on that day so that we can participate in celebrations around campus and in the city. SVSU always hosted a MLK dinner on campus and invited a guest speaker and all the minority organizations participated. Wayne State will be closed on that day this year, and I've heard that it will be their first time doing so as well. Why is King's birthday not celebrated as much here in the North?? In the South, EVERYTHING shut down for King's birthday!!