The U.S. is set to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon.

From being a preacher in an Atlanta Baptist church to one of the most quoted Civil Rights leaders, Martin Luther King Jr.’s journey was heavily covered by The Tennessean. Although many associate Tennessee with King's assassination,

Rev, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” MLK’s eloquent, 7,000-word letter — which was written to Alabama clergymen who were against his nonviolent Civil Rights protests during that time — called readers to take “direct action” against unjust laws and urged clergymen to better visualize the corner Black people were being forced into.