In another week’s time, American schools will take a day on January 19th to honor Martin Luther King and his work toward achieving equality for African Americans in American society. The holiday is celebrated as a federal holiday on the third Monday of January each year. The holiday was first celebrated in 1986. At first, there was opposition to establishing the holiday. During that time, prominent musicians got involved, writing and recording songs in support of establishing the holiday. Others have written songs to directly honor Martin Luther King. Below is a sampling of some of these songs. They make excellent materials for use in music lessons leading up to the day off from school next Monday. The Gregory Brothers auto-tuned mix of the “I Have A Dream” speech is both intriguing and possibly controversial. The two songs by Bono won him recognition form the King Foundation, and “King Holiday” was recorded by an all-star cast of singers, including a very young Whitney Houston, in support of establishing the holiday.