Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2016

Proclamation 9390 of January 15, 2016

Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

With profound faith in our Nation's promise, the
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a non-violent
movement that urged our country's leaders to expand the
reach of freedom and provide equal opportunity for all.
Dr. King joined a long line of heroes and vindicated
the belief at the heart of our founding: that humble
citizens, armed with little but faith, can come
together to change the world and remake an America that
more closely aligns with our highest ideals.

Dr. King recognized that, as a country built on the
foundation of self-governance, our success rested on
engaging ordinary citizens in the work of securing our
birthright liberties. Together, with countless unsung
heroes equally committed to the idea that America is a
constant work in progress, he heeded the call etched
into our founding documents nearly two centuries before
his time, marching and sacrificing for the idea of a
fair, just, and inclusive society. By preaching his
dream of a day when his children would be judged by the
content of their character--rather than by the color of
their skin--he helped awaken our Nation to the bitter
truth that basic justice for all had not yet been
realized. And in his efforts, he peaceably yet
forcefully demonstrated that it is not enough to only
have equal protection under the law, but also that
equal opportunity for all of our Nation's children is
necessary so that they can shape their own destinies.

Today, we celebrate the long arc of progress for which
Dr. King and so many other leaders fought to bend
toward a brighter day. It is our mission to fulfill his
vision of a Nation devoted to rejecting bigotry in all
its forms; to rising above cynicism and the belief that
we cannot change; and to cherishing dignity and
opportunity not only for our own daughters and sons,
but also for our neighbors' children.

We have made great advances since Dr. King's time, yet
injustice remains in many corners of our country. In
too many communities, the cycle of poverty persists and
students attend schools without adequate resources--
some that serve as a pipeline to prison for young
people of color. Children still go to bed hungry, and
the sick go without sufficient treatment in
neighborhoods across America. To put up blinders to
these realities or to intimate that they are inherent
to a Nation as large and diverse as ours would do a
disservice to those who fought so hard to ensure ours
was a country dedicated to the proposition that all
people are created equal.

``We may have all come on different ships, but we're in
the same boat now,'' Dr. King once said. As the most
diverse country on Earth, ensuring this creed is
reflected in our hearts, minds, and policies is the
imperative of our citizenship. As Americans of all
races and beliefs come together on this day of service
to honor the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., let us pledge to recognize the common
humanity of all people, regardless of the color of
their skin or the station into which they were born.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
January 18, 2016, as the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Federal Holiday. I encourage all Americans to observe
this day with appropriate civic, community, and service
projects in honor of Dr. King and to visit
www.MLKDay.gov to find Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of
Service projects across our country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and fortieth.