Monday, Jan. 15, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, honoring the Baptist minister and influential leader of the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
 
Most U.S. adults (81%) say King has had a positive impact on the country, including 47% who say he has had a very positive impact, according to a Pew Research Center survey last year. In addition, 38% of U.S. adults say their personal views on racial equality have been influenced by him a great deal or a fair amount, including 59% of Black Americans who say this.

Even before King’s rise to prominence in the 1950s, many Black pastors played pivotal roles in Black communal efforts to achieve civil rights. Our study from 2021 on religion among Black Americans showed that 77% of Black Americans say that predominantly Black churches have done at least some to help Black people move toward equality.
 
The 2021 report also included a chapter on Black religious history in the United States that discussed the role of Black clergy in civil rights over time.