Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Martin Luther King Commission topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Professor Teresa Martinez tells Utah legislature Martin Luther King Jr. reshaped America
Summary
Professor Teresa Martinez of the University of Utah delivered the keynote for the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, recounting King's leadership, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, and urging lawmakers to remember King's principles of equality and justice.
Professor Teresa Martinez addressed members of the Utah House during a Committee of the Whole convened for the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, urging lawmakers to honor King—s legacy and principles.
"I'm very honored to be here today to speak on behalf of the Martin Luther King Junior Commission," Martinez said, and asked why the state honors King with a day: to remember a life and work that "did not want people to suffer" and that led to landmark changes in U.S. law and society.
Martinez described how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 followed the movement King helped lead: "Martin Luther King Junior asked America to remember its own greatest strength, its own best self, and America, as it should, a fine great son of this nation responded with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965." She also recounted personal family history to illustrate the practical effects of civil-rights gains on education and opportunity.
Phyllis Carruth, introduced earlier as a guest from the State Human Rights Commission, presented the commission's members and thanked the House for the invitation before Martinez spoke.
The address was followed by thanks from commission members and by a short youth vocal performance announced to the chamber. The event was part of a session that also included introductions of interns and in-session staff and business on the House floor.
