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THE ONLY BLACK GUY IN THE OFFICE
Why I Will Never, Ever Work on MLK Day
No matter what the workplace policy, I’ll be off somewhere lounging, celebrating an icon
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
If you’re reading this post today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, while you’re working, you’re already messing up.
For as long as I’ve been in corporate America, without fail, a co-worker proves themselves clueless at some point in the second week of January. “Hey, do we have next Monday off?” someone asks, followed by the inevitable response: “What’s next Monday?” There’s always one.
Me? I keep MLK Day circled on my desk calendar and fully booked in my iCal. So it always surprises me when fully grown adults annually forget the holiday — or maybe “disregard” is a better word. I’ve worked at some jobs that have observed the date and others that haven’t. Whatever the case, my employers have come to realize that, in the words of Magic, “I’m not gon’ be here.”
The very fact that MLK Day tends to slip folks’ minds is a testament to its disrespectful history. Some states recognized it long before President Reagan signed it into law as a federal…
