News | New Mexico State Treasurer's Office

SANTA FE – State Treasurer James B. Lewis will be the keynote speaker at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event on January 21, 2008, sponsored by the Santa Fe Branch of the NAACP at the State Capitol Rotunda. The event is scheduled to begin at noon.

“I am honored and pleased to speak at this event commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. King,” Treasurer Lewis said. “There is a lot of work to be done; Dr. King’s dream has not been realized. Some people may want to sit back and relax on the holiday, but things that have been going on in our nation and in the world are a reminder that the holiday is a day on, not a day off.”

In his presentation, Treasurer Lewis will focus on who Dr. King was, the significance of his work, and how his principles of nonviolence impacted the world. Treasurer Lewis will offer an historical chronology, from the Emancipation Proclamation to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as context for reflecting on Dr. King’s work. Treasurer Lewis also will highlight the achievements of New Mexico elected officials; explore the progress that has been made locally and nationally; and consider the milestones that have yet to be reached.

“The NAACP recognizes Treasurer Lewis has been a fighter for the same things that Dr. King stood for,” said Bob Moses, chair of the 2008 MLK Day event and third vice-president of the Santa Fe Branch of the NAACP. “Treasurer Lewis has been a public servant on the local, state and federal levels, and it will be an honor to have him as our speaker. We want to recognize him as well as Dr. King.”

The theme for the Santa Fe Branch of the NAACP 2008 event is “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Champion of Worker Rights, Then and Now,” which will be presented with the support of New Mexico labor unions. April 4, 2008, will be the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., where the day before he was killed Dr. King spoke at a rally in support of sanitation workers on strike.

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