Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024

  • by Kevin R. Johnson

Today’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers a chance to reflect on the legacy of the civil rights giant whose name graces our building and whose principles unify our community.

This year, we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the vibrant King Hall mural in the courtyard, which depicts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the word “Dream.” Co-created by Reza Harris ‘19 and artist Eric Norberg, the mural pays tribute to King’s famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech.

During the mural’s creation, King Hall students had the opportunity to learn about the painting process and help create the mural. It serves as a message to law students to “never give up on their dreams and never forget why they’re here in the first place,” Harris said.

Just as important, this day offers opportunities to honor King’s legacy through action.

UC Davis Law’s Black Law Students Association, MLK Day Working Group and Office for Student Affairs planned an amazing lineup for today’s MLK Day of Service and Celebration. Activities for this fifth annual event include a group painting project at Woodland’s Fourth & Hope nonprofit; a donation drive for Sacramento’s Wellspring Women’s Center; and lunch and a keynote speech by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Allison Williams, one of the few Sacramento judges to rise from the Public Defender’s Office.

MLK Day
UC Davis Law students, faculty, staff, alumni and volunteers marked the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday last year by collecting items for the Malcolm X Academy in Sacramento, hosting a blood drive and offering a naturalization workshop.

As we celebrate Dr. King’s extraordinary civil rights achievements, we also must examine the systemic racism that tragically still pervades our legal system and world at large. Now in its fourth year, UC Davis Law’s groundbreaking Racial Justice Speaker Series will resume Monday, Jan. 22 with a talk by Nicole Santamaría, executive director of El/La Para TransLatinas, a nonprofit dedicated to serving trans, intersex and gender-diverse Latinx immigrants in the Bay Area.

Naming our building after Dr. King more than 50 years ago brought with it a mandate to assist the underserved and pursue equal access to justice for all. Today and every day, the King Hall community seeks to follow his shining example of brilliance, courage and compassion.