California Governor Issues MLK Jr. Proclamation
Sonora, CA — Today is the federal holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
Typically, the Mother Lode Martin Luther King Jr. Committee holds a large community event on the weekend before the holiday, but it had to be canceled this year due to COVID-19.
Governor Gavin Newsom released a Martin Luther King Jr. Day proclamation.
You can read it below:
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us that we are ultimately measured not by where we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but by the stands we take during times of challenge and controversy. The events of the past year have presented our state with no shortage of challenges, among them the ongoing struggle against systemic injustice in all its forms.
More than 50 years after his passing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideals are more salient than ever. His legacy reminds us that moral leadership does not require a person to be in elected office or hold a position of power. Instead, exercising moral authority requires the will to do the right thing. Standing on the shoulders of civil rights leaders before him and working in concert with a generation of activists, Dr. King helped transform how our country saw itself and its future.
Dr. King provided a framework for how each of us can shape the future: Call out injustice and work toward something better. His legacy and clarion call to us all lives on in all those fighting for justice amid the many threats to it today. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequities and deep disparities in our society, with people of color disproportionately affected by its devastating health and economic impacts. Furthermore, the Black Lives Matter protests of this summer shined a light on the continuing racial injustice that we can, and must, do more to address.
Let us gather strength from Dr. King’s legacy and use our moral authority to push for a more equitable state, society and world.”
-Governor Gavin Newsom
