81—-years since Dr. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929

47—years since King wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963

47—years since Dr. King led the March on Washington on August 8, 1963

42—years since Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968

27—years since North Carolina General Assembly voted to establish King’s birthday as an official state holiday in 1983. (A Work in Progress; The North Carolina Legislature.)

27—years since President Ronald Reagan signed federal King Holiday into law on November 2, 1983

10—years since South Carolina became the last state to officially recognize the King Holiday in 2000

33—percent of employers who give all or most workers a day off on the King Holiday. (Bureau of National Affairs, January 9, 2007)

7—number of statewide elections in North Carolina since King Holiday was established in 1983

9—number of members of the N.C. Council of State, all statewide elected officials

63—total number of elections of Council of State members since King Holiday was established

3—number of Council of State elections won by an African-American. (Ralph Campbell, elected State Auditor, 1992, 1996, and 2000.)

28—number of major party nominees for Governor or Lieutenant Governor since King Holiday was established in North Carolina in 1983

0—number of major party nominees for Governor or Lieutenant Governor since King Holiday was established who were African-American.

14—number of General Assembly sessions in North Carolina since King Holiday was established in 1983

28—total number of elections of Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Senate since King Holiday was established

2—number of elections for House Speaker or Senate President Pro won by African-American since King Holiday was established (Dan Blue—elected House Speaker in 1991 and 1993)

43—years since King said in his book Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, that “the curse of poverty has no justification in our age…The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”

39,108,422—number of people in the United States living in poverty in 2008. (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey)

13—percent of people in United States living in poverty in 2008. (Ibid)

1,301,929—number of people in North Carolina living in poverty in 2008. (Ibid)

14.6—percent of people in North Carolina living in poverty in 2008. (Ibid)

11.2—percent of White Americans living in poverty in 2008. (Ibid)

24.7—percent of African-Americans living in poverty in United States in 2008. (Ibid)

9.8—percent of White North Carolinians living in poverty in 2008 (Snapshot of Employment, Poverty, Income, and Health Coverage in North Carolina. N.C. Justice Center)

24.3—percent of African-Americans in North Carolina living in poverty (Ibid.)