Public Statements

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 17, 2022

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Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

Today we join with people across the United States and around the world to remember the life and legacy of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, when he was just 39 years old, but he inspired more progress toward racial justice and equality during his lifetime than perhaps any other person in recent U.S. history. His leadership led directly to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and his work was recognized with the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964.

Despite that progress and those accomplishments, systemic racism persists and violence against Black Americans remains far too common. Dr. King envisioned the day when, he said, the United States could finally “live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’”

Much still needs to be done to realize the vision of the slain civil rights leader we remember today, and that work falls to all of us. We can start by acknowledging the racism, violence, and inequality around us, and doing what we can to foster a just, safe, and welcoming community. We can take inspiration from Bob Moses ’56, a contemporary of Dr. King in the civil rights movement, and Drew Days ’63, the first Black head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, among other Hamilton graduates who have worked toward achieving equality for all.

I encourage you to pause and think – especially today – about the impact Dr. King has had on your life and, more importantly, what each of us can do to fulfill his vision of a world where all people are treated equally and with dignity.

David