R 15
2001-H 5082
Enacted 1/9/2001


H  O  U  S  E     R  E  S  O  L  U  T  I  O  N

COMMEMORATING THE BIRTHDAY OF THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Introduced By:  Representatives Abdullah-Odiase, Shavers, Iwuc, Munschy and Malik Date Introduced:  January 9, 2001

WHEREAS, On January 15, 1929 a child was born in Atlanta, Georgia who would one day lead a nonviolent revolution to forever change the social and political landscape of America. The mirror he held before the national conscience revealed the ugliness of racism and hatred that has divided America from the day it was born. Neither the carnage of civil war, nor even the thorough self-examination that the reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. forced upon the nation, has entirely eradicated the injustices which still plague us. 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, but where others called for blood and violence to purify the nation, he preached nonviolence and an iron will that 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. 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; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby commemorates the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. We honor not only the man and all that he accomplished, but we honor, as well, 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.

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