Amended in Assembly January 15, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent ResolutionNo. 109


Introduced by Assembly Member Cooper

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Williams, and Wood)

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January 4, 2016


Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 109—Relative to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 109, as amended, Cooper. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

This measure would proclaim that Monday, January 18, 2016, be observed as the official memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth and his work in the Civil Rights Movement.

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,
P1    1Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, in a march to the
2Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC where Dr. King made his
3famous “I Have a Dream” speech announcing that the days of
4segregation in the United States were numbered; and

5WHEREAS, Monday, January 18, 2016, marks the 30th national
6celebration of the national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
7and his fight for civil and human rights; and

8WHEREAS, On Friday, January 15, 2016, Dr. Martin Luther
9King, Jr. would have been 87 years of age; and

10WHEREAS, On April 10, 1970, California became the first
11state to pass legislation making Dr. King’s birthday a school
12holiday and, subsequently, a statewide holiday; and

13WHEREAS, Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan)
14submitted the first legislation for a national Dr. Martin Luther
15King, Jr. holiday, which was signed into law by President Ronald
16Wilson Reagan, on November 2, 1983; and

17WHEREAS, January 20, 1986, marked the first observance of
18Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day; and

19WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped
20change public policy from segregation to integration, resulting in
21the repeal of the post-Reconstruction era state laws mandating
22racial segregation in the South known as the “Jim Crow Laws,”
23thereby leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
24Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other antidiscrimination laws aimed
25at ending economic, legal, and social segregation in America; and

26WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped
27change public policy from legal and socially acceptable
28discrimination and segregation to an open and accessible policy
29of racial integration leading to equal participation and access to
30primary and higher education, housing, employment, transportation,
31federal, state, and local governmental elections, and other aspects
32of public policy relating to human rights; and

33WHEREAS, These public policy changes at the national level
34influenced many changes in California that culminated in the
35passage of the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Rumford Fair
36Housing Act, in open enrollment and access to higher education
37specifically with respect to the California State University and the
38University of California, and in employment and labor laws,
39transportation policy, election laws, and other aspects of public
40policy; and

P3    1WHEREAS, The unfinished business of Dr. King and the Civil
2Rights Movement was and is the plight of the poor, the fight against
3war and for worldwide peace, and the struggle for a fair, equitable,
4and sensible economic system; and

5WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement noted
6that a majority of Americans lived below the poverty line, and that
7the huge income gaps between rich and poor called for “changes
8in the structure of our society”; and

9WHEREAS, Dr. King, in the last months of his life, began
10organizing a Poor People’s Campaign to, among other things,
11assemble “a multiracial army of the poor that would descend on
12Washington--engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the
13Capitol, if need be--until Congress enacted a poor people’s bill
14of rights”; and

15WHEREAS, All of the aforementioned concerns and more
16continue to be the quest of civil and human rights organizations
17in the great State of California, across America, and throughout
18the world; and

19WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought to change public
20policy from the “self-inflicted wound of segregation to the
21pluralistic diverse democracy” we continue to construct today; and

22WHEREAS, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights
23Movement serve as a model for principled leadership and
24forward-thinking, bipartisan public policy; now, therefore, be it

25Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
26thereof concurring,
That Monday, January 18, 2016, be observed
27as the official memorial of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birth and
28his work in the Civil Rights Movement; and be it further

29Resolved, That this day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the
30Civil Rights Movement be commemorated for their help in
31changing public policy from segregation to integration, for the
32betterment of this, the great State of California and these United
33States of America; and be it further

34Resolved, That the Legislature encourages all Americans to pay
35tribute to the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through
36participation in community service projects on Dr. Martin Luther
37King, Jr. Day; and be it further

38Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes the inherent value of
39community service and volunteerism in the creation of a civil
40society and as a means of nonviolent community progress
P4    1consistent with the works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and be
2it further

3Resolved, That the Legislature recognizes the benefits of the
4collaborative work by many organizations that promote, facilitate,
5and carry out needed service projects nationwide; and be it further

6Resolved, That the Legislature encourages its members and
7colleagues to urge their constituents to participate in community
8service projects; and be it further

9Resolved, That the Legislature acknowledges that, by serving
10one’s country, one’s community, and one’s neighbor, our nation
11makes progress in civility, equality, and unity consistent with the
12values and life’s work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and be it
13further

14Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
15of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



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