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Lake County Board proclaims February 2025 Black History Month, honors Martin Luther King Jr.
Summary
The Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted a proclamation designating February 2025 as Black History Month and celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday; the proclamation commended the Lake County NAACP and listed civil-rights issues the branch addresses.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted a proclamation designating February 2025 as Black History Month and celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the board announced during its meeting and signed the proclamation through Board Chair EJ Crandall.
The proclamation recognizes the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), led by Rick Mayo, and notes the branch’s work on civil and voting rights and related issues. "First of all I'd like to give honor to God," Rick Mayo, president of the Lake County NAACP, said after receiving the proclamation, adding thanks for the board's support of the African American community.
The resolution, presented by Supervisor Sabatier, outlines topics the NAACP has focused on, including voting rights and efforts to urge passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act; protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act; LGBTQ nondiscrimination; women's reproductive rights; workplace prejudice; and efforts to counter voter suppression and gerrymandering. The proclamation also commends the Lake County NAACP for local social programs and for its role in improving quality of life in the county.
Supervisor Sabatier read the proclamation aloud and the board formalized the designation. The text identifies Rick Mayo as president and as the 1982 founder of the Lake County NAACP branch; the board "does hereby designate February 2025 Black History Month and a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday," and the measure was "passed and adopted this February 2025" and signed by Board Chair EJ Crandall.
Board members offered brief remarks after the presentation. Vice Chair (name not provided in the meeting record) said, "I just wanna, thank Rick for not only his work with the NAACP, but he's also been a huge part of our community and very active in a lot of community efforts over the past 30, 40 years that I can recall." Another supervisor who met Mayo while campaigning said, "he has just welcomed me in and let me take part" in community activities and thanked him for his work.
During his remarks, Mayo urged attendees to study figures in Black history: "I think that Black History Month is a time to learn and a time to be open and listen," and he recommended looking up Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois as influences on civil-rights strategy.
The presentation concluded with the board taking photos with Mayo. A participant named Nora was given an opportunity to submit comments by email for the record; no formal public-comment transcript is recorded in the meeting excerpt.
The proclamation text and remarks will be included in the meeting record; the board did not record a roll-call vote in the excerpt provided.
