Madison, WI Header
File #: 75302    Version: 1 Name: Celebrating Monday, January 16, 2023, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Type: Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 12/28/2022 In control: Council Office
On agenda: 1/3/2023 Final action: 1/3/2023
Enactment date: 1/6/2023 Enactment #: RES-23-00005
Title: Celebrating Monday, January 16, 2023, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Sponsors: Nasra Wehelie, Barbara Harrington-McKinney, Sheri Carter, Satya V. Rhodes-Conway, Brian Benford, Juliana R. Bennett, Nikki Conklin, Jael Currie, Tag Evers, Yannette Figueroa Cole, Grant Foster, Keith Furman, Patrick W. Heck, Sabrina V. Madison, Charles Myadze, Erik Paulson, Matthew J. Phair, William Tishler, Michael E. Verveer, Regina M. Vidaver
Fiscal Note
No fiscal impact.
Title
Celebrating Monday, January 16, 2023, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Body
WHEREAS, Dr. King was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King attended Morehouse College from 1944 to 1948 and was ordained in his final semester; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King married Coretta Scott on June 18, 1953; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King obtained a doctoral degree in 1955 from Boston University, the same year he led a 381-day nonviolent demonstration that became known as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, at the age of 26; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King combined Mohandas Gandhi’s precepts of nonviolence with Christian social and gospel ideas to expand the civil rights movement and become a national civil rights leader; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization at the forefront of the civil rights movement, rooted in nonviolent direct action; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King authored and delivered many well-known publications, books, and speeches, including, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, “Beyond Vietnam”, and “I Have a Dream”; all of which are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language; and,

WHEREAS, in 1963, Dr. King organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom event with over 250,000 attendees in Washington D.C., and delivered one of the most quoted speeches of all time; and,

WHEREAS, after police attacks with tear gas and clubs on demonstrators, Dr. King awaited federal court approval and carried out the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the Selma to Montgomery March; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1964; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King’s life was cut tragically short when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, yet his legacy remains strong; and,

WHEREAS, Dr. King is considered the most influential spokesperson of the early 19...

Click here for full text