2021 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in California

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us 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. The events of the past year have presented our state with no shortage of challenges, among them the ongoing struggle against systemic injustice in all its forms.

More than 50 years after his passing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ideals are more salient than ever. His legacy reminds us that moral leadership does not require a person to be in elected office or hold a position of power. Instead, exercising moral authority requires the will to do the right thing. Standing on the shoulders of civil rights leaders before him and working in concert with a generation of activists, Dr. King helped transform how our country saw itself and its future.

Dr. King provided a framework for how each of us can shape the future: Call out injustice and work toward something better. His legacy and clarion call to us all lives on in all those fighting for justice amid the many threats to it today. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequities and deep disparities in our society, with people of color disproportionately affected by its devastating health and economic impacts. Furthermore, the Black Lives Matter protests of this summer shined a light on the continuing racial injustice that we can, and must, do more to address.

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, 2021, as “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.”