PROCLAMATION
RECOGNIZING JANUARY 15, 2024 AS THE NATIONAL HOLIDAY MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S BIRTH AND APPRECIATION FOR THE ROLE HE PLAYED IN SHAPING HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL AMERICANS ACROSS THE NATION WHEREAS, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1929; was ordained as a Baptist minister February 25, 1948; and following the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks, led the Montgomery Improvement Association in successfully boycotting for integration of public buses in Montgomery in December, 1956; and WHEREAS, on February 12, 1957 Dr. King was elected President of the newly founded Southern Christian Leadership Conference; shortly thereafter he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine; and on April 16, 1963 he wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while imprisoned for demonstrating against segregation of eating facilities in that city; and WHEREAS, on August 28, 1963, Dr. King delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech at Lincoln Memorial during the “March on Washington”, with 260,000 protestors bringing international attention to the civil rights movement; on December 10, 1964 Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway; and on August 6, 1965 the 1965 Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Johnson; and WHEREAS, on March 28, 1968, Dr. King lead thousands of protestors in a march through downtown Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers; on April 3, 1968 Dr. King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, and on April 4, 1968 Dr. King was assassinated by a sniper while speaking from the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis; and WHEREAS, after 18 years of intense lobbying by hundreds of leaders of all races, the United States Congress passed Public Law 98-144, and on January 18, 1986 President Ronald Reagan declared the first observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday to be a national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday of each January thereafter; and WHEREAS, Martin Luther King Day celebrates the life and legacy of a man who brought hope and healing to our nation - a man who taught by example the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility, and service - a man who dedicated his life toward a revolutionary spirit of universal and unconditional love, forgiveness, and nonviolence.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Dan Romero, Mayor of the City of Hercules do hereby declare Monday, January 15, 2024 as Martin Luther King Day in the City of Hercules and urge all citizens to make a personal commitment to serve humanity, and to teach future generations to carry on this important legacy.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the City of Hercules to be affixed this 9th day of January 2024. __________________________________
Dan Romero, Mayor