Congresswoman Shontel Brown Introduces Resolution Honoring Life and Legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Shontel Brown introduced a resolution to honor the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929, and on Monday, the nation will observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  

Congresswoman Brown’s resolution serves as a tribute to Dr. King’s unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and peace, emphasizing the importance of diversity, tolerance, and the fight against hate in our society. The resolution is cosponsored by 63 Members of the House of Representatives.  

“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired a nation to bend the moral arc toward justice and extend the promise of our nation to every individual. He fought not just to end oppression but to create opportunity, reject hate, and persist in the pursuit of equality. At a time when the values of equity and representation are under attack, his vision for a more inclusive and loving society remains as relevant today as ever. Let us answer Dr. King’s call in our time by rejecting hate in all its forms and fostering a society where every person is treated with dignity and respect.” said Congresswoman Brown.   

Alma Adams (NC-12), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Ami Bera (CA-06), Stanford Bishop (GA-02), Janelle Bynum (OR-05), Andre Carson (IN-07), Troy Carter (LA-02), Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), James Clyburn (SC-06), Joe Courtney (CT-02), Danny Davis (IL-07), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Valarie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Daniel Goldman (NY-10,) Al Green (TX-09), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Pablo Jose Hernandez (PR-00), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-00), Steven Horsford (NV 04), Glenn Ivey (MD 04), Jonathan Jackson (IL 01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Hank Johnson (GA 04), Sydney Kamlager Dove (CA-37),  Robin Kelly (IL-02), Tim Kennedy (NY 26), Greg Landsman (OH 01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Grace Meng (NY-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Frank J. Mrvan (IN-01), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Stacey Plaskett (U.S. Virgin Islands), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Sylvester Turner (TX -08), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), Frederica Wilson (FL-24) 

Honoring Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by celebrating diversity, promoting tolerance, and condemning hate. 

Whereas the Nation will celebrate the 96th anniversary of the birth of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Mon- day, January 20, 2025; 

Whereas Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught that the blessing of diversity is our strength;  

Whereas Dr. King fought, marched, and preached for the inalienable rights of all people, particularly Black Americans;  

Whereas among these rights is the inviolable right of every person to cast their vote and make their voice heard in a representative democracy;  

Whereas tolerance for one another’s difference in race, ethnicity, gender, culture, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disability is a profound virtue;  

Whereas civil discourse in a land of democratic freedom is the true promise of our country; and  

Whereas, Dr. King once wrote in his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly’’: Now, therefore, be it 

resolved that the House of Representatives:  

Celebrates the 96th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth on January 15, 2025, shall serve as a reminder that hate and hateful conduct based on differences has no place in America, in tribute to his life and teachings;  

Affirms Dr. King’s words “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds”;  

Honors the life, legacy, works, and heroism of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;  

Condemns any form of harassment, discrimination or prejudice targeted at any minority ethnic group, including but not limited to the Black community, Indigenous people, the Jewish community, the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community, the Muslim community, and the Hispanic and Latino communities; 

Condemns any form of harassment, discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s gender, including but not limited to the trans community and LGBTQ+ individuals;  

Abhors the violence and senselessness that led to his untimely death; and  

Calls on all people across this nation and the world to uphold his values and teachings of justice, equality, peace, advocacy, and tolerance. 

“And we must see racism for what it is. It is a myth of the superior and the inferior race. It is the false and tragic notion that one particular group, one particular race is responsible for all of the progress, all of the insights in the total flow of history. And the theory that another group or another race is totally depraved, innately impure, and innately inferior. In the final analysis, racism is evil because its ultimate logic is genocide. If one says that I am not good enough to live next door to him; if one says that I am not good enough to eat at a lunch counter, or to have a good, decent job, or to go to school with him merely because of my race, he is saying consciously or unconsciously that I do not deserve to exist.”