Arizona was one of the last states to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday and the only state that required a public vote to do so.

It took a long and contentious fight to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a state holiday in Arizona. The big picture: The movement to carve out a day to honor King began shortly after his 1968 assassination.

Arizona didn't celebrate Martin Luther King Day until 1993, a decade after it became a federal holiday. Here's how the Super Bowl played a role.

Arizona was one of the last states to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday ... order from former Gov. Bruce Babbitt that would have made MLK Day an Arizona holiday.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is recognized across the nation, both as a state and national holiday, on the civil rights activist’s birthday, Jan. 20. The day serves as an

I'd never had a white person talk to me like that,' Warren Stewart Sr. says, recalling the late Gov. Evan Mecham and the Arizona battle over MLK Day.

It's an easy decision, for me. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors service, not self-gratification.

President-elect Trump on Monday becomes only the third president to take the oath of office on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The collision of the two events has set members of the civil rights

It was first proposed four days after King's 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.

"While others were advocating for freedom by 'any means necessary,' including violence, Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly impossible goals," according to The King Center.

Civil rights expert john a. powell, author of the recently published book “The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong," addresses the dual occasions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration day and how to bridge the two.