To all the moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day!

Losing my mom at a young age, I’ve always been particularly sensitive to Mother’s Day and I want to say to anyone else who struggles on this day: I see you and I feel you. So if this email will be difficult for you to read, I understand. Though if you’ll allow me, I’d like to share with you why I am so particularly grateful to the mother figures who shaped my life.

My mom, Adalina King, was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and became the first person in her family to graduate college. She then went on to become a school guidance counselor in the New York City public school system. Every day I still think about her spirit of love, kindness, and passion for education, and I am proud to carry on her legacy and love for learning. 

My grandmother, Estelle Livingston Stansberry King, was one of the first Black graduates from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. After graduation in 1894, she became a nurse and championed to her sons, including my father John Sr., the importance of formal education and of working hard. In the face of deep discrimination, my grandmother broke barriers that would go on to change the trajectory of my entire family – and I do my best to take her example to heart by serving my community with dignity and passion.

My maternal grandmother, Sergia Santigo, was one of the most courageous women I’ve ever known. As a young Puerto Rican woman in the 1940s, my grandmother bravely walked out of a fraught marriage and took a risk moving with her two young kids to the Bronx in New York City. Though she spoke limited English then, she was able to secure a job working in a garment factory and enrolled her kids in public school with the hope they would get to have the education she never did. To this day, nothing will ever taste better than her homemade arroz con pollo.

My wife Melissa is the amazing mother to our two beautiful daughters, Mireya and Amina. Like so many moms, Melissa is the glue of our family. She exudes love and caring - from her career as a public school teacher and education researcher to her deep commitment to community and family - and has set an amazing example for our daughters as they grow. Mireya, Amina, and I could not be luckier, and nothing will ever bring me as much joy as time spent with Melissa and the girls. 

It was because of these incredible women — the sacrifices both of my grandmothers made in hopes of a brighter future, my mother’s love during my early years before she passed away, and Melissa’s support and partnership — that I have had such amazing opportunities throughout my life: graduating from three Ivy League schools, being a public school teacher and principal, serving as U.S. Secretary of Education, and now, running to be the first Afro-Latino governor in American history. I am so lucky to follow in the footsteps of these women, and I hope to honor them by making history as the first-ever Black and Puerto Rican governor of Maryland.

Thank you and Happy Mother’s Day,

John King