07 - R 017
2007 -- S 0032
Enacted 01/10/07
S
E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
COMMEMORATING THE
CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH OF THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING,
JR.
Introduced
By: Senators Metts, Pichardo, J Montalbano, P Fogarty, and Badeau
Date
Introduced: January 10, 2007
WHEREAS, On
January 15, 1929, a child was born in Atlanta, Georgia who would one
day lead a nonviolent revolution that would
forever change the social and political landscape of
America; and
WHEREAS, The
mirror that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. held before the
national conscience revealed the ugliness of
racism and hatred that had divided America from the
day it was born. Neither the carnage of civil
war, nor even the thorough self-examination that Dr.
King forced upon the nation, has entirely
eradicated the injustices which still plague this nation.
However, where would the social conscience of
America be today were it not for the courage and
teachings of this great man?; and
WHEREAS, There can
be no doubt that Dr. King burned with the fire of revolution.
Where others called for blood and violence to
purify the nation, he preached nonviolence. His
ironclad will knew that the justness of his
cause would one day unite America. In his famed "I
Have a Dream" speech before the Lincoln
Memorial, he challenged the country to live up to its
ideals; and
WHEREAS, For Dr.
King, violence was a firestorm which must eventually consume the
arsonist. Although the victim of violence
throughout his public career, he never gave into the
darkness cloaking this great evil. Dr. King
believed that violence did not change hearts. He
believed that racial equality and social justice
were more likely to come about through appeals to
the public's collective conscience and by the
examples being set by those advocating social
justice and non-violence; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That
this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
hereby commemorates the birthday of the great
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We honor
not only the man and his accomplishments, but
the continuing process of social enlightenment he
founded which lives with us still, ever pressing
us to move beyond what we are and what we
think we can be. The prophet of hope, Dr. King
has left a legacy which will live forever; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That the
Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to
transmit duly certified copies of this
resolution to all general office holders, members of the
Rhode Island Congressional Delegation and the
Martin Luther King, Jr. State Holiday
Commission.
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LC00478
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