06 LC 21
8735
House
Bill 1276
By:
Representatives Abdul-Salaam of the
74th,
Brooks of the
63rd,
Watson of the
91st,
Smyre of the
132nd,
Orrock of the
58th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 4 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to state holidays and observations, so as to establish Coretta Scott King Day in
Georgia; to state legislative findings; to provide for a portrait; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
4 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state
holidays and observations, is amended by adding at its end a new Code section to
read as follows:
∀1-4-16.
(a)
The General Assembly and the people of the State of Georgia wish to honor the
public service and accomplishments of our most accomplished adopted daughter,
Coretta Scott King, for her dignified but unyielding stand for equal rights and
dignity and for her incalculable contributions to the citizens of this state,
our country, and the world.
(1)
Coretta Scott was born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Perry County, Alabama,
near Marion. She was the second of three children born to Obediah Scott, an
enterprising entrepreneur, and Bernice McMurray Scott; and in 1945, she enrolled
at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, pursuing majors in music and
education.
(2)
On June 18, 1953, Coretta Scott married Martin Luther King, Jr., with Reverend
King, Sr., officiating at the wedding ceremony. Over the next ten years, the
couple welcomed four children into their family: Yolanda Denise, November 17,
1955, Martin Luther III, October 23, 1957, Dexter Scott, January 30, 1961, and
Bernice Albertine, March 28, 1963.
(3)
In 1956, when her first child was not even a year old, Mrs. King stood by her
husband́s
side as the Montgomery bus boycott began, and never did her support and
conviction waver, not when her house was bombed and not when her husband was
jailed, assaulted, and murdered for his commitment to human rights. She shared
her
husband́s
steadfast commitment to seek peace and justice through nonviolent action and
played a leading role in advocating social change across the nation and
throughout the world during his lifetime and thereafter; and she continued to be
a prominent voice in maintaining the enduring legacy of her
husband́s
dreams to the moment of her death.
(4)
While Dr. King is an undisputed hero of the movement, excelling in the sincerity
of his conviction, and his unwillingness to compromise in matters of
nonviolence, Mrs. King is a hero in her own right. Sadly, even though she has
received many honors, most 'mainstream' Americans do not know of her
accomplishments, her convictions, and her tireless work on behalf of a free and
equal society.
(b)
April 27 of each year is designated 'Coretta Scott King Day' in Georgia. The
Georgia Art Policy Committee is authorized and directed to acquire or commission
an appropriate portrait of Ms. King to hang in the capitol next to the portrait
of her husband, The Reverend Martin Luther king,
Jr.∀
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.