MLK Day 2021: What’s Open, Closed In Midtown

MIDTOWN, GA — The life and legacy of civil rights icon and Georgia native Martin Luther King, Jr. will be celebrated on Monday, Jan. 18 this year, with a variety of services in and near Midtown being altered or closed for the federal holiday.

The road to this federal holiday status was not an easy one. Almost immediately after King’s assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968, some activists and legislators proposed a bill pushing for a federal holiday to commemorate his Jan. 15 birthday — but the bill failed to make it through Congress multiple times until it finally passed in 1983, according to National Geographic.

Former President Ronald Reagan immediately signed the legislation, but the first federal holiday was not celebrated until three years later in 1986. Even then, some Southern states — Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, states that long resisted desegregation — grouped MLK Day with a holiday the three states already celebrated: Robert E. Lee Day, which was dedicated to the anniversary of the Confederate leader’s Jan. 19 birthday, National Geographic reported.

It wasn’t until 2000 that MLK Day was nationally recognized — but even today, Alabama and Mississippi still package MLK Day with Robert E. Lee Day.

King was an advocate for nonviolent social change and the most famous leader of the civil rights movement. His essays and speeches continue to inform discussions and education around race and civil rights, particularly his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Here’s a breakdown of how the federal holiday could affect your routine:

• Fulton County courts, facilities and offices are closed on Monday.
• Fulton County public safety services are available 365 days per year.
• Atlanta garbage pick up: The city of Atlanta's Office of Solid Waste Services is closed on Jan. 18. If your regularly scheduled service day normally falls on a Monday, your garbage, recycling and/or bulk pickup service will take place Tuesday, Jan. 19. There will be a one-day delay for the remainder of the week.
• The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will operate bus and rail services on a modified Saturday schedule with weekday start times on MLK Day, and the Atlanta streetcar service will operate on a Sunday schedule that day as well. To view the holiday schedules, visit the website.
• All Fulton County public libraries will be closed on Monday. Curbside services will resume Tuesday as scheduled. Reminder: the libraries are offering curbside services only from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.
• Fulton County Schools students are off on Jan. 18, and all offices are closed.
• Atlanta Public Schools students are also off on Monday, and all offices are closed.
• Municipal offices for the city of Atlanta are closed Monday.
• This is a federal holiday and all U.S. Postal Service post offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 18. No mail will be delivered or sent. Regular business hours will resume Tuesday, Jan. 19.
• All banks will be closed.
• Publix and Kroger will be open.

Know of any other places that will be closed or services that will be altered for the holiday? Post in the comments below to let us know.