ACR 5, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
This measure would designate that January 19, 2015, be observed as the official memorial of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth and commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the work of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement in changing public policy in California and in the United States of America.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, One hundred years after the Emancipation
2Proclamation, on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
3and others organized hundreds of thousands of blacks and whites,
4Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, in a march to the
5Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. where Dr. King made his
6famous “I Have a Dream” speech announcing that the days of
7segregation in the United States were numbered; and
8WHEREAS, Monday, January 19, 2015, marks the 29th National
9Celebration of the National Holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King,
10Jr. and his fight for civil and human rights; and
11WHEREAS, On Thursday, January 15, 2015, Dr. King would
12have been 86 years of age; and
P2 1WHEREAS, On April 10, 1970, California became the first
2state to pass legislation making Dr. King’s birthday a school
3holiday and, subsequently, a statewide holiday; and
4WHEREAS, Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan)
5submitted the first legislation for a national Martin Luther King,
6Jr. Holiday, which was signed into law by President Ronald Wilson
7Reagan, on November 2, 1983; and
8WHEREAS, January 20, 1986, marked the first observance of
9Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; and
10WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped
11change public policy from segregation to integration, resulting in
12the repeal of the post-Reconstruction era state laws mandating
13racial segregation in the South known as the “Jim Crow Laws,”
14thereby leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
15Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other antidiscrimination laws aimed
16at ending economic, legal, and social segregation in America; and
17WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped
18change public policy from legal and socially acceptable
19discrimination and segregation to an open and accessible policy
20of racial integration leading to equal participation and access to
21primary and higher education, housing, employment, transportation,
22federal, state, and local governmental elections, and other aspects
23of public policy relating to human rights; and
24WHEREAS, These public policy changes at the national level
25influenced many changes in California that culminated in the
26passage of the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Rumford Fair
27Housing Act, in open enrollment and access to higher education
28specifically with respect to the California State University and the
29University of California, and in employment and labor laws,
30transportation policy, election laws, and other aspects of public
31policy; and
32WHEREAS, The unfinished business of Dr. King and the Civil
33Rights Movement was and is the plight of the poor, the fight against
34war and for worldwide peace, and the struggle for a fair, equitable,
35and sensible economic system; and
36WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement noted
37that a majority of Americans lived below the poverty line, and that
38the huge income gaps between rich and poor called for “changes
39in the structure of our society”; and
P3 1WHEREAS, Dr. King, in the last months of his life, began
2organizing a Poor People’s Campaign to, among other things,
3assemble “a multiracial army of the poor that would descend on
4Washington--engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the
5Capitol, if need be--until Congress enacted a poor people’s bill
6of rights”; and
7WHEREAS, All of the aforementioned concerns and more
8continue to be the quest of civil and human rights organizations
9in the great State of California, across America, and throughout
10the world; and
11WHEREAS, Dr. King fought to change public policy from the
12“self-inflicted wound of segregation to the pluralistic diverse
13democracy” we continue to construct today; and
14WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement serve as
15a model for principled leadership and forward-thinking, bipartisan
16public policy; now, therefore, be it
17Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
18thereof concurring, That Monday, January 19, 2015, be observed
19as the official memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth and
20his work in the Civil Rights Movement; and be it further
21Resolved, That this day, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement
22be commemorated for their help in changing public policy from
23segregation to integration, for the betterment of this, the great State
24of California and these United States of America; and be it further
25Resolved, That the California Legislature encourages all
26Americans to pay tribute to the life and works of Dr. King through
27participation in community service projects on Martin Luther King,
28Jr. Day; and be it further
29Resolved, That the California Legislature recognizes the inherent
30value of community service and volunteerism in the creation of a
31civil society and as a means of nonviolent community progress
32consistent with the works of Dr. King; and be it further
33Resolved, That the California Legislature recognizes the benefits
34of the collaborative work by many organizations that promote,
35facilitate, and carry out needed service projects nationwide; and
36be it further
37Resolved, That the California Legislature encourages its
38members and colleagues to urge their constituents to participate
39in community service projects; and be it further
P4 1Resolved, That the California Legislature acknowledges that,
2by serving one’s country, one’s community, and one’s neighbor,
3our nation makes progress in civility, equality, and unity consistent
4with the values and life’s work of Dr. King.; and be it further
5Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
6of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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