It took a long and contentious fight to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a state holiday in Arizona. The big picture: The movement to carve out a day to honor King began shortly after his 1968 assassination.

Arizona was one of the last states to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday and the only state that required a public vote to do so.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is recognized across the nation, both as a state and national holiday, on the civil rights activist’s birthday, Jan. 20. The day serves as an