January 17, 2022 - SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation declaring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the State of California.

The text of the proclamation can be found here and a copy is below:

PROCLAMATION

In 1983, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became the first private citizen to be honored with a federal holiday, culminating years of advocacy from the Congressional Black Caucus, activists and Coretta Scott King, the late minister’s widow. Advocates for the holiday fought for a day of federal recognition not just to celebrate Dr. King’s memory, but also to preserve his legacy—one that calls upon all of us to exercise our moral authority, stand up against injustice and protect our most sacred tenets of democracy. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

In a time when basic voting rights are under attack across the country, and people are being targeted in senseless and violent hate crimes, we continue to turn to Dr. King’s teachings more than 50 years after his death: 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.

Dr. King provided a framework for how each of us can shape the future: Call out injustice and work toward something better. Amid the many challenges we face today, his legacy and clarion call to us live on in all those fighting for justice.

This Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day, let us gather strength from Dr. King’s legacy and use our moral authority to push for a more equitable state, society and world.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim January 15, 2022, as "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day."

Source: Office of the Governor