Public Statements

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 16, 2023

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Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

Today’s observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a celebration of the civil rights leader’s work to promote racial justice and equality and a reminder of our obligation to help fulfill the dream that he articulated on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. In one of the most important speeches in American history, Dr. King called for an end to racism and a commitment to civil rights and economic opportunity for all.

Nearly 50 years later, in 2011, on a four-acre plot of land just a half mile from the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial opened to the public. Its central feature is the Stone of Hope, a 30-foot tall granite statue of Dr. King. Among the quotations engraved throughout the memorial is the following, which seems especially apt for what we aspire to do at Hamilton: “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

The work that Dr. King envisioned is far from complete. Race-based violence against Black Americans persists, as do the legacies of slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow. I urge all of us to recommit to the “noble struggle for equal rights,” and encourage you to read, watch, or listen to Dr. King’s iconic speech.

David