In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I thought it would be appropriate to devote some ink and thought to the most influential philosopher, preacher and civil rights activist of the 20th century.

Then again, what right do I — a Caucasian — have to be giving commentary about King? Have I ever benefited from the sacrifices he made and the fight he fought? Not directly, but I believe King played a major role in paving the way for other influential African-Americans to indirectly impact me.

I had to consult the web for some ideas on how to approach this subject and was overwhelmed with the plethora of information. Two topics caught my eye. University of Washington English Professor Charles Johnson wrote a novel called “Dreamer” that focused on events in King’s life, published in 1998. He discussed some of what he learned about King as a person, not as a public figure.

The other topic that caught my attention was facts about the tedious and lengthy process of making the birthday of MLK a holiday, from Seattle Times staff reporter Paul Andrews.

According to Professor Johnson, we already know he was the nation’s prominent moral philosopher whose photograph is displayed in elementary and secondary schools across America. But Johnson wanted to dig deeper, and his perspective struck a chord with me.

“Even though I grew up in the 1960s, and even though I remember the day he was killed in 1968, I realized a few years ago that I really didn’t know this man,” Johnson wrote. He used examples such as not knowing what Dr. King’s favorite Bible passages were, what novels and motion pictures he enjoyed or what his favorite cocktail was. Johnson was fascinated with these kinds of details — the personal habits, likes and dislikes. In a sense, learning all these details, these idiosyncrasies and personality quirks, Dr. King becomes transformed into a character, literally, in theater productions and figuratively because these are the qualities that make a person who they are and that’s what interests me as a fellow human being.

“Dreamer” focuses on Dr. King’s life between 1966 and 1968, when he brought the Freedom Movement to the Chicago area. Johnson says that he’s interested in the King who came away from that campaign less than satisfied with his success in Chicago, the King who was the target of 50 assassination threats, who had $30,000 bounty on his head, who lamented the death of Malcolm X and despaired over the growing racial polarization in America.

This is a powerful approach to paying tribute to someone’s legacy. This is what draws someone like me in and leaves me hungry for more. Because of Johnson’s work, I care.

It took almost two decades to make King’s birthday a legal holiday, according to Andrews.

“Arguments concerning money dominated opposition to the holiday. Costs associated with lost services on the King holiday were estimated at $18 million for the federal government, $7 million to Washington State. The estimated total cost was an astronomical $8 billion for government and private sector combined,” stated Andrews.

Another common argument was, why put Dr. King above other famous people? His legacy was not expected to stand the test of time.

“King is the only American besides George Washington to have a national holiday designated for his birthday. Internationally, King is one of the few social leaders of any country to be honored with a holiday. Such status by a member of a country’s racial minority is almost unheard of. Generally, the honor is reserved for military or religious figures.”

Petitions carrying more than 6 million signatures — allegedly the largest petition drive in history — were submitted to Congress in 1970. “The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which coordinated the petition campaign, also kept continuous pressure on Congress for the holiday. Mass marches in 1982 for voting rights and 1983 to mark the 20th anniversary of King’s dramatic speech in Washington, D.C., also contributed,” stated Andrews.

When President Reagan signed legislation creating the holiday in November 1983, it marked the end of a persistent, highly organized lobbying effort spanning the nation and 15 years.

It was a dream. A miracle. An act of Congress. Does this put the MLK holiday in perspective? What do you think Dr. King would say about the holiday? I think he’d feel honored. This recognition was long overdue.

Leslie Heuer is a graduate student in English from Des Moines.