PHILADELPHIA – Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on Monday celebrated the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in a day of service event and national bell ringing ceremony, both in Philadelphia.
At the 24th Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service at Girard College, Wolf called for peaceful action toward an end to gun violence, moving forward to safer communities, taking care of each other and following the example of Dr. King.
“We simply cannot accept gun violence as a normal part of American life,” Wolf said. “And now, we simply cannot wait any longer to act. We need to stand together as Dr. King showed us, stronger than hate and united against violence.
“It is increasingly important that we all come together, from different communities and different backgrounds, to celebrate what Dr. King stood for, what this day represents. We can and should make a commitment to serving our communities and each other every day.”
At the day of service, the governor and lieutenant governor participated in assembling “dream booths,” portable three-dimensional displays made of synthetic plastic pipe with panels of cloth with personal expressions of values and dreams of a world without gun violence called Dreamline Banners attached.
The Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service is organized through Global Citizen, a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement, community volunteering, civic responsibility and sustained active citizenship among diverse groups, particularly young people.
Global Citizen promotes democracy building, voter education and participation, locally and globally.
At the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Association for Nonviolence Inc. annual bell ringing ceremony, Wolf’s remarks focused on Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
“Dr. King’s example – his dedication to his community, to his incredible cause and to his fellow man is truly awe-inspiring and I’m really pleased to play a small part in both preserving and moving forward his legacy,” Wolf said.
“Moving forward – with peaceful yet powerful action and not passivity. This is a focus of my second term as governor of this great state; a state that celebrates and demonstrates its diversity, its commitment to family, to neighbor, to community every day. Nowhere is that more evident than in Dr. King’s legacy.”
Dr. King’s widow, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, requested a national bell ringing ceremony to commemorate the first national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in 1986 as a means to further the Martin Luther King Jr.
Federal Holiday Commission’s mandate to “to provide advice and assistance to federal, state and local governments and to private organizations with respect to the observance of the holiday.”
Laura Wooten, a long-time election day volunteer, was the official bell ringer for the ceremony.
The Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association for Nonviolence Inc. was founded by Honorable Dr. C. DeLores Tucker and a group of local leaders in 1983, 17 years after the assassination of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The mission of the association is to preserve and advance the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through educating, interpreting, advocating and promoting nonviolent theory and philosophy.
“Because Dr. King devoted his life to making our world better, let us follow his example by doing the same,” Wolf said. “And let us work to make the world fairer and our communities better every day.”