Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2014

Proclamation 9078 of January 22, 2014

Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday, 2014

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Each year, America sets aside a day to remember a giant
of our Nation's history and a pioneer of the Civil
Rights Movement. During his lifelong struggle for
justice and equality, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of
millions, offered a redemptive path for oppressed and
oppressors alike, and led a Nation to the mountaintop.
Behind the bars of a Birmingham jail cell, he reminded
us that ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.'' On a hot summer day, under the shadow of
the Great Emancipator, he challenged America to make
good on its founding promise, and he called on every
lover of freedom to walk alongside their brothers and
sisters.

As we marked the 50th Anniversary of the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom last August, we noted
the depth of courage and character assembled on the
National Mall that day. We honored all who marched,
bled, and died for civil rights. And we celebrated the
great victories of the last half century--civil rights
and voting rights laws; new opportunities in the
classroom and the workforce; a more fair and free
America, not only for African Americans, but for us
all.

We were also reminded that our journey is not complete.
It is our task to build on the gains of past
generations, from challenging new barriers to the vote
to ensuring the scales of justice work equally for all
people. And we must advance another cause central to
both Dr. King's career and the Civil Rights Movement--
the dignity of good jobs, decent wages, quality
education, and a fair deal. Because America's promise
is not only the absence of oppression but also the
presence of opportunity, we must make our Nation one
where anyone willing to work hard is admitted into the
ranks of a rising, thriving middle class.

Dr. King taught us that ``an individual has not started
living until he can rise above the narrow confines of
his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of
all humanity.'' In honor of this spirit, Americans
across the country will come together for a day of
service. By volunteering our time and energy, we can
build stronger, healthier, more resilient communities.
Today, let us put aside our narrow ambitions, lift up
one another, and march a little closer to the Nation
Dr. King envisioned.

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 20, 2014, 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
sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.