Office of the Mayor
Proclamation
Lawrence, Kansas
WHEREAS: The theme of this 27th annual celebration is “Dream with a Vision, Live with a Purpose” and by such events we are expressing our hopes, dreams and beliefs and reaffirming our rights as citizens and the liberties possible in the United States; and
WHEREAS: We exemplify our way of life and the exceptional and separate character of our values is expressed in our national holidays such as Dr. King’s; and
WHEREAS: We rededicate ourselves to the truths that he strove for, and thus engage in the valuable activity of reserving a day or days towards that end and recall the legacy that the Reverend Dr. King created; and
WHEREAS: In 1964 the Reverend Dr. King stated: “Civilization and violence are antithetical counterparts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later, all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”; and
WHEREAS: The Ecumenical Fellowship, the City of Lawrence, Kansas, USD #497, and the University of Kansas, along with other community institutions, are cooperating to support the activities planned for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration and urge local residents to take part in them;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert J. Schumm, Mayor of the City of Lawrence, Kansas, do hereby proclaim the week of January 14 – 22 as